Four Senior ISIS Leaders were killed in Joint U.S.-Iraqi Raid last month
In a significant blow to ISIS, four senior leaders of the terrorist organization were killed during a U.S.-Iraqi military raid in western Iraq on 29 August, the U.S. military confirmed Friday.
Among the dead was the group’s top operations leader in Iraq, Ahmad Hamid Husayn Abd-al-Jalil al-Ithawi, and chief bombmaker, Abu Ali al-Tunisi, who had a $5 million U.S. reward on his head.
The raid, which targeted four locations, led to the deaths of 14 ISIS terrorists, including the four senior figures.
According to a statement by the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), the operation was designed to dismantle the terror group’s ability to plan and execute attacks against Iraqi civilians and U.S. allies in the region.
CENTCOM also confirmed that seven American service members were injured during the raid.
“This operation targeted ISIS leaders and served to disrupt and degrade ISIS’ ability to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against Iraqi civilians, as well as U.S. citizens, allies, and partners throughout the region and beyond,” CENTCOM stated on Friday.
The four ISIS leaders killed were Ahmad Hamid Husayn Abd-al-Jalil al-Ithawi, who was responsible for all operations in Iraq; Abu Hammam, overseeing operations in western Iraq; Abu-‘Ali al-Tunisi, in charge of technical development; and Shakir Abud Ahmad al-Issawi, who supervised military operations in the western region.
Abu Ali al-Tunisi, the group’s chief bombmaker, was a key figure in the terror group’s explosive operations.
The U.S. Rewards for Justice program had placed a $5 million bounty on his capture, describing him as the leader of manufacturing for the terror outfit in Iraq.
Al-Tunisi trained Islamic State fighters in creating explosive devices, suicide vests, and IEDs (improvised explosive devices), and also provided advanced weapons and chemical weapons training.
CENTCOM’s statement emphasized the importance of targeting ISIS’s technical capabilities.
“Al-Tunisi was a significant figure in ISIS’s bombmaking and weapons development, making his removal from the battlefield a major success for counterterrorism efforts in Iraq,” CENTCOM noted.
The military operation encountered fierce resistance, as some ISIS terrorists were armed with grenades and suicide vests.
CENTCOM had previously stated that several Islamic State fighters were prepared to detonate explosives, indicating their readiness to resist capture.
The raid involved intensive planning and coordination between U.S. and Iraqi forces, which led to a successful outcome in dismantling key figures within the organization.
The killing of these senior ISIS leaders marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing fight against the group, which has sought to regain influence in Iraq since its territorial defeat in 2019.
By eliminating leaders with extensive operational and technical expertise, the raid has struck at the heart of ISIS’s ability to regroup and carry out large-scale attacks.
The August 29 raid is one of several ongoing counterterrorism operations aimed at dismantling ISIS’s infrastructure and leadership across Iraq.
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