US Central Command said in a press release on Tuesday that its forces supported airstrikes near Kirkuk, Iraq, on January 31 that it claimed killed five ISIS operatives.
The command said the airstrikes were carried out by Iraqi government security forces and “enabled” by the US. “An initial post-strike clearance found multiple explosive suicide belts and other materials,” the command said.
It’s unclear how many US troops are in Iraq at this time as the Pentagon under President Biden admitted that it was lying about the actual number. For years, the Pentagon has said there are 2,500 US troops in Iraq, but in December, it said the real figure was higher without disclosing it.
The US has continued military operations against ISIS in Iraq in recent years despite the government repeatedly saying it doesn’t need the US’s help against ISIS remnants. In 2024, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani called for the withdrawal of US and other foreign troops, and Washington and Baghdad entered talks about the US presence.
Those talks resulted in the US and Iraq announcing a deal to officially end the mission of the US-led anti-ISIS coalition by September 2025, but it said the US will remain in Iraq under a “bilateral partnership.” The Pentagon said at the time that the US was “not withdrawing from Iraq.”
One reason the US wanted to stay in Iraq was to support the occupation of eastern Syria. According to NBC News, the Pentagon is drawing up plans to withdraw from Syria, which means an Iraq pullout may also be an option.
Must be the ISIS members who have gone against their US masters…!
But of course. See, we are needed. /s