ISIS Regrouping, Attacks in 1H 2024 Double that of 2023: U.S. Centcom

The Islamic State (ISIS) claimed 153 attacks in Iraq and Syria from January to June 2024, suggesting an effort to reconstitute and potentially more than double the total number of attacks compared to 2023, following years of decreased capability.

To continue efforts to defeat ISIS and prevent its ability to conduct external attacks, United States Central Command, along with its Defeat ISIS partners, Iraqi Security Forces, and the Syrian Democratic Forces, conducted 196 missions resulting in 44 ISIS operatives killed and 166 detained in the first half of 2024. In Iraq, 137 partnered operations resulted in 30 ISIS operatives killed and 74 detained. In Syria, 59 operations conducted alongside the SDF and other partners resulted in 14 ISIS operatives killed and 92 detained.

These operations resulted in eight senior ISIS leaders killed and 32 captured in both Iraq and Syria. These leaders were involved in planning operations outside of Syria and Iraq, recruiting, training, and weapons smuggling. Removing these individuals from their leadership positions further degrades ISIS's capabilities to conduct external operations in the U.S. and allied nations.

The continued pursuit of approximately 2,500 ISIS fighters across Iraq and Syria is critical to the enduring defeat of ISIS. Equally important are ongoing international efforts to repatriate over 9,000 ISIS detainees in detention facilities in Syria and to repatriate, rehabilitate, and reintegrate more than 43,000 individuals and families from the Al Hol and Al Roj camps. This is down from a peak of over 70,000 in 2019.

“The global enduring defeat of ISIS relies on combined efforts of the Coalition and partners to remove key leaders from the battlefield and repatriate, rehabilitate, and reintegrate families from Al Hol and Al Roj,” said Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, commander of U.S. Central Command. “We continue to focus our efforts on specifically targeting those members of ISIS who are seeking to conduct external operations outside of Iraq and Syria and those ISIS members attempting to break out members in detention in an attempt to reconstitute their forces.”