2 US service members injured during counter-ISIS mission in Iraq

Two U.S. troops were injured Tuesday in a joint raid with Iraqi security forces that killed at least seven senior Islamic State group leaders, according to the Pentagon.

During the early morning operation, which included strikes and follow-on raids on multiple ISIS locations in central Iraq, the two U.S. military personnel were wounded while “assisting Iraqi forces with site exploitation” but are in stable condition, U.S. Central Command said in a statement Wednesday.

Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder earlier on Tuesday mentioned reports of the injured individuals, adding both were “being treated for their injuries.”

The Associated Press first reported the raid, citing Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, who claimed ISIS group commander Jassim al-Mazroui Abu Abdul Qader was killed in the Hamrin Mountains in Salahuddin province.

The Iraqi prime minister also posted on social media that eight other senior leaders were killed in the operation, bringing the death count to nine.

Ryder on Tuesday would only say that “the raid resulted in the death of multiple ISIS operatives” but did not mention Abdul Qader.

The joint mission comes after Washington last month announced that the U.S. military’s anti-ISIS mission will end in Iraq by the end of 2026, transitioning to a new phase that likely will involve a significant withdrawal of American forces in the country.

The U.S. says it will maintain a military footprint in the country, where it has been for more than two decades, to continue the fight against global terrorism. There are presently about 2,500 American troops in Iraq.

But the Iraqi government has publicly said it expects all U.S. forces to leave the country by 2026.