U.S. soldiers patrol at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq in 2022. About 2,500 U.S. troops continue to assist in the fight against the Islamic State. (Julio Hernandez/U.S. Army)

WASHINGTON – Two U.S. service members were injured early Tuesday morning in a combined American-Iraqi attack that killed at least seven Islamic State militants, according to U.S. Central Command.

The service members are in stable condition, CENTCOM said. The operation conducted strikes and raids on multiple ISIS locations in central Iraq, targeting several senior ISIS leaders. 

“U.S. Central Command, alongside our coalition and Iraqi partners, will aggressively pursue ISIS and other terrorists that pose a threat to U.S. forces, allies, partners and security in the region,” said Army Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, the commander of CENTCOM, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East.

U.S. officials in September announced American troops will remain in Iraq as the two countries agree to a transition of the American-led mission to defeat the Islamic State.

For 10 years, U.S.-led coalition forces have battled ISIS, since the terrorist group launched a blitzkrieg across eastern Syria and into Iraq, capturing massive swaths of both countries, including about one-third of Iraq. Then-President Barack Obama amassed the coalition to launch an air campaign against ISIS. Later that year, the U.S. began sending troops back into Iraq to train and advise Iraqi military forces to fight off the group. That campaign has continued, despite ISIS fighters having lost almost all their land in Iraq by 2017.

There are about 900 U.S. military personnel still operating in Syria where they support local Kurdish forces in preventing a resurgence of the Islamic State. There are about 2,500 U.S. military personnel in Iraq also participating in a counter-ISIS mission.