American strikes kill up to 35 ISIS operatives in Syria, U.S. military says

The U.S. military has struck a number of Islamic State group camps in Syria this week, killing as many as 35 militants, U.S. Central Command said Wednesday.

The airstrikes in the desert of central Syria were done Monday evening and targeted multiple locations and senior leaders of the group. The attacks came on the heels of a number of joint operations with Iraqi forces that targeted IS militants in Iraq.

Wednesday’s announcement marked the continuation of a considerable uptick in attacks and raids against ISIS suspects in Syria and Iraq, according to CBS News senior national security correspondent Charlie D’Agata. Two U.S. service members were wounded in a separate joint raid in Iraq last week.

Pentagon officials have said that the Islamic State group remains a threat in the region, but it is no longer as powerful as it was 10 years ago when the militants swept across Iraq and Syria, taking control of large swaths of the two countries.

U.S. Central Command said the latest strikes in Syria will disrupt the group’s ability to plan, organize and conduct attacks against civilians and U.S. and allied forces in the region. 

“CENTCOM, alongside allies and partners in the region, will continue to aggressively degrade ISIS operational capabilities to ensure its enduring defeat,” the military organization said in a statement posted on X.

CENTCOM said there were no indications of civilian casualties in the strikes.