US Defense Secretary Ash Carter has said that more anti-Daesh raids are likely to be conducted in Iraq.

Speaking at a news briefing on Friday, Carter said that the raids are similar to those which have produced a large cache of intelligence and freed 70 people taken hostage by the Daesh (ISIL) in Iraq.

The Pentagon chief said that he had decided to carry out the rescue mission after intelligence indicated that executions were imminent and that the Takfiris had even dug a grave for the bodies.

"When we find opportunities to do things that will effectively prosecute the campaign, we're going to do that," said Carter. "Raids is one of those categories and I suspect that we'll have further opportunities in the future and we're going to avail ourselves."

Iraqi officials say that Kurdish and Iraqi forces were also involved in the rescue operation which freed the hostages from an ISIL prison located about 7 kilometers (4 miles) north of the town of Hawijah.

According to US officials, the hostage rescue was not part of the 3,500-troop American mission in Iraq to train and advise Iraqi forces in the fight against the ISIL terrorists and that it was part of a separate counterterrorism mission.

The American-led military intervention against purported Daesh positions in Iraq started in June, 2014. A similar coalition began in Syria in September.

US ground troops have rarely, if ever, participated directly in combat operations against Daesh terrorists. The US has largely limited its role to “training” and “advising” Iraqi and Kurdish forces and conducting airstrikes against ISIL.