US and allies killed nearly 700 Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq in 2022: US military

US forces and their allies killed nearly 700 suspected members of the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq in 2022, according to the US military.

At least 686 members of the militant group were killed by the US and its allies, according to CENTCOM, the US military command responsible for the Middle East as well as Central and South Asia. 

CENTCOM End Of Year Update on Defeat-ISIS Operations pic.twitter.com/ixkq1oTRlp

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) December 29, 2022

These included 466 IS operatives killed and 215 captured in Syria, and "at least 220" killed and 159 captured in Iraq, according to a CENTCOM statement. 

The US and their coalition forces successfully targeted several high-profile members of the group this year, including leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, who died during a raid in northwestern Syria.

According to the statement, US forces suffered no casualties during operations targeting the militant group, which is also known by the acronym ISIS.

"The emerging, reliable and steady ability of our Iraqi and Syrian partner forces to conduct unilateral operations to capture and kill ISIS leaders allows us to maintain steady pressure on the ISIS network," Major General Matt McFarlane said in the statement.

The news follows statements by the Iraqi army claiming they killed 200 IS group fighters in 2022, including two of the group’s leaders - Abu Ibrahim al-Quraishi and Abu Hassan al-Hashemi al-Quraishi.

IS in response launched several retaliatory operations throughout the year, attacking civilians and military positions in Iraq. 

IS proclaimed itself as a 'caliphate' following a meteoric rise in Iraq and Syria in 2014 that saw it conquer vast swathes of territory. 

It was eventually defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria two years later, but sleeper cells of the extremist group still carry out attacks in both countries.