Syria
The US military said it has struck more than 30 Islamic State (ISIS) targets in Syria since early February after an ISIS ambush killed three Americans. Photo: CENTCOM / X
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US military announced on Saturday it ratcheted up attacks on the Islamic State (ISIS) as it withdrew from a major base and transferred thousands of ISIS prisoners to Iraq last week.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on Saturday that it conducted 10 strikes against 30 ISIS targets in Syria from February 3 through Thursday.
The US, which leads the international military coalition against ISIS, used fighter jets, unmanned aircraft and precision-guided bombs to hit infrastructure and weapons storage facilities, CENTCOM said.
CENTCOM said the strikes aimed to “sustain relentless military pressure on remnants from the terrorist network” as part of a two-month military campaign that killed or captured 50 ISIS members and hit 100 infrastructure targets. The operation was in response to a December ISIS ambush that killed two US troops and an American interpreter in Palmyra, CENTCOM said.
The strikes were carried out as the US military transferred thousands of ISIS prisoners to Iraq and withdrew from the Al-Tanf garrison, its primary base in the fight against ISIS for more than a decade. Syria’s interim military took over control of Al-Tanf near the Jordanian and Iraqi borders Thursday as Damascus assumed responsibility for the country’s anti-ISIS military and security operations - efforts led for over a decade by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Attacks by the Syrian army and allied armed groups on the SDF in January triggered ISIS prison breaks, with the US transferring detainees to Iraq shortly thereafter. CENTCOM announced it had completed the three-week transfer of 5,700 male ISIS fighters on Friday.
CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper said in a statement the prisoners were transferred “to help ensure ISIS detainees remain secure in detention facilities.”
He praised “Iraq’s leadership and recognition that transferring the detainees is essential to regional security.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement on X Friday that three high-security prisons continue to hold “thousands of ISIS operatives” in Kurdish-controlled areas. The areas are controlled by the People's Protection Units (YPG), the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) and Kurdish Internal Security Forces (Asayish), the organization reported.
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