Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve in the context of "Iraqi Security Forces"

Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) is the United States military's operational name for the international war against the Islamic State (IS)—a group also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or its Arab acronym "Daesh"—including both a campaign in Iraq and a campaign in Syria, with a closely related campaign in Libya. Through 18 September 2018, the U.S. Army's III Armored Corps was responsible for Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF—OIR) and were replaced by the XVIII Airborne Corps. The campaign is primarily waged by American and British forces in support of local allies, most prominently the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Combat ground troops, mostly special forces, infantry, and artillery have also been deployed, especially in Iraq. Of the airstrikes, 70% have been conducted by the military of the United States, 20% by the United Kingdom, and the remaining 10% being carried out by Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

According to the Pentagon, by March 2019, the day of IS's territorial defeat in Syria, CJTF—OIR and its partner forces had liberated nearly 110,000 square kilometers (42,471 square miles) of land and 7.7 million people from IS, the vast majority of the self-proclaimed caliphate's territory and subjects. By October 2017, around the time of IS's territorial defeat in Iraq, CJTF—OIR claimed that around 80,000 IS militants had been killed by it and its allies (excluding those targeted by Russian and Syrian air strikes). By the end of August 2019, it had conducted 34,573 strikes. Tens of thousands more were killed by partner forces on the ground (the SDF alone claimed to have killed 25,336 IS fighters by the end of 2017).

The Battle of Baghuz Fawqani was an offensive by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), assisted by Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) coalition airstrikes, artillery, and special forces personnel, that began on 9 February 2019 as part of the Deir ez-Zor campaign of the Syrian Civil War. The battle—which was composed of a series of ground assaults—took place in and around the Syrian town of Al-Baghuz Fawqani in the Middle Euphrates River Valley near the Iraq–Syria border, and was the territorial last stand of the Islamic State (IS) in eastern Syria.

After corralling IS forces into a densely populated cluster of hamlets and a tent city along the riverside within the first week, the SDF realised that a greater-than-anticipated number of civilians, most of whom were relatives of the what were now mostly foreign IS fighters, were still in the enclave. With CJTF-OIR oversight, the SDF took an incremental approach to the battle, launching assaults then pausing to allow surrendering fighters, hostages, and families to evacuate in order to minimize civilian casualties. The "trickle-out" strategy, coupled with stiff resistance by veteran Islamic State jihadists within a small dense area, prolonged the battle into a protracted siege. The SDF officially declared final victory over the IS in Baghuz Fawqani on 23 March, marking the end of IS-controlled territories in Syria.

The Iraq War (Arabic: حرب العراق, romanized: ḥarb al-ʿirāq), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States–led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict persisted as an insurgency that arose against coalition forces and the newly established Iraqi government. US forces were officially withdrawn in 2011. In 2014, the US became re-engaged in Iraq, leading a new coalition under Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, as the conflict evolved into the ongoing Islamic State insurgency.

The Iraq invasion was part of the Bush administration's broader war on terror, launched in response to the September 11 attacks. In October 2002, the US Congress passed a resolution granting Bush authority to use military force against Iraq. The war began on March 20, 2003, when the US, joined by the UK, Australia, and Poland, initiated a "shock and awe" bombing campaign. Coalition forces launched a ground invasion, defeating Iraqi forces and toppling the Ba'athist regime. Saddam Hussein was captured in 2003 and executed in 2006.

In the days leading up to and during the 2024 Syrian opposition offensives, several military clashes involving ISIS cells, Syrian rebel forces, Ba'athist Syrian government forces, and US-led international coalition forces involving the United Kingdom, France, Jordan, Turkey, Canada, Australia, and others, occurred in Deir ez-Zor Governorate. These events prompted significant military responses from both Russian forces and Assad regime's troops.

On 3 December 2024, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), supported by the US-led CJTF–OIR coalition, launched an offensive on pro-government forces in the eastern Deir ez-Zor region.

The battle of Raqqa (2017), also known as the second battle of Raqqa, was the fifth and final phase of the Raqqa campaign (2016–2017) launched by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the Islamic State (IS) with an aim to seize the city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of ISIL since 2014. The battle began on 6 June 2017, and was supported by airstrikes and ground troops from the US-led coalition. The operation was named the "Great Battle" by the SDF. It concluded on 17 October 2017, with the SDF fully capturing the city of Raqqa.

The battle ran concurrently with the conclusion of the Battle of Mosul (2016–2017), which had started seven months earlier, as part of an effort by the CJTF–OIR and its allies to strip ISIL of its regional centers of power and to dismantle it as a state. It continued while Syrian Arab Army and allies began clearing ISIL across the Euphrates, reaching the point of the lifting of the Siege of Deir ez-Zor (2014–2017).

The Deir ez-Zor campaign, codenamed the al-Jazeera Storm campaign, was a military operation launched by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria's Deir ez-Zor Governorate in 2017 during the Syrian Civil War with the goal of capturing territory in eastern Syria, particularly east and north of the Euphrates river. The U.S.-led Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF–OIR) anti-ISIL coalition provided extensive air support while SDF personnel composed the majority of the ground forces; OIR special forces and artillery units were also involved in the campaign.

The ground campaign stalled and was paused in early 2018 due to the Turkish military operation in Afrin, but resumed on 1 May 2018 with the new phase named by the coalition as Operation Roundup. The third phase began on 10 September 2018 but was halted due to Turkish artillery attacks on SDF positions near the Syria-Turkey border on 31 October. The SDF and the coalition announced the resumption of the offensive on 11 November. After a series of steady successes following the capture of ISIL's Hajin stronghold, and a ten-day pause for civilian evacuations, the SDF launched its final assault on ISIL's final pocket of territory on 9 February 2019 and declared victory on 23 March, concluding the campaign.

The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) was a term used by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to describe law enforcement and military forces of the federal government of the Republic of Iraq. During the Iraq War, these entities received training and instruction from the multinational MNF-I and later on during the war against ISIS, they received further training and assistance from the CJTF-OIR.

According to Article 121 of Iraq's constitution, the federal regions are responsible for the establishment and organization of internal security forces of their respective regions. Therefore, Peshmerga is not within the scope of this term.