Beirut: US Coalition forces said they had fired a senior . got hold of Islamic State Group bomb makers in an aerial campaign before dawn Thursday in the North Syria,
A war watchdog and AFP correspondents said the helicopters landed for a few minutes in a village in the region controlled by Turkish-backed rebel groups.
The US-led coalition dedicated to fighting jihadist groups in the region did not name the target.
“The man captured is a veteran bomb maker and operational facilitator who went on to become one of the top leaders of the Syrian branch of Daesh,” it said, using another name for IS.
Such operations by US forces in areas of northwestern Syria under the control of Turkish-backed rebels and non-IS jihadist groups are rare.
The latest was earlier a raid in early February that led to the death of the group’s leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi, who detonated a bomb vest to evade capture.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitoring group with a vast network of sources on the ground, could not confirm the identity of the captured IS operative on Thursday.
observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahmani Told AFP that two helicopters landed Humiraah and took off seven minutes later, saying that only a few shots were fired during the operation.
“The US operation was quick and smooth,” he said. “It happened in the village of Hamira, northeast of the city of Aleppo and four kilometers (2.5 miles) from the Turkish border.”
The coalition said in its statement that “the mission was carefully planned to minimize the risk of collateral damage, particularly any potential harm to civilians.”
“No civilians were harmed, nor was there any damage to Coalition aircraft or property during the operation.”
desert hideout
IS lost its last territory in March 2019 after a military strike backed by a US-led coalition, its remnants retreated to a mostly desert base in Syria.
IS cells have since ambushed Kurdish-led forces and the Syrian government or allied forces, carrying out similar attacks in Iraq.
Top leaders of the Islamic State group, however, are often involved in areas controlled by other forces and where their own fighters are not active.
QureshiThe infamous predecessor, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was also killed in a US special forces raid in northwestern Syria, far from the area of IS operations.
Since Qureshi’s death, the group has continued to spread its message online, arguing that the West is vulnerable while Ukraine is at war with “crusaders[one]fighting each other”.
Little is known about the new leader, Abu Hassan al-Hashmi al-Kurshi, the third head of the jihadist group since its founding.
Media reports that he was captured in Istanbul last month were never confirmed, with a Turkish official only telling AFP that a senior but unidentified IS member had been detained.
Observers have long feared a resurgence of IS in the badlands along the Iraqi-Syrian border and formed the heart of the group’s once sprawling proto-state.
Yet with continued coalition pressure on its leadership and its sources of funding, the jihadist group still has no fixed position in either country and the intensity of its attacks has remained largely unchanged since 2019.
A war watchdog and AFP correspondents said the helicopters landed for a few minutes in a village in the region controlled by Turkish-backed rebel groups.
The US-led coalition dedicated to fighting jihadist groups in the region did not name the target.
“The man captured is a veteran bomb maker and operational facilitator who went on to become one of the top leaders of the Syrian branch of Daesh,” it said, using another name for IS.
Such operations by US forces in areas of northwestern Syria under the control of Turkish-backed rebels and non-IS jihadist groups are rare.
The latest was earlier a raid in early February that led to the death of the group’s leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi, who detonated a bomb vest to evade capture.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitoring group with a vast network of sources on the ground, could not confirm the identity of the captured IS operative on Thursday.
observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahmani Told AFP that two helicopters landed Humiraah and took off seven minutes later, saying that only a few shots were fired during the operation.
“The US operation was quick and smooth,” he said. “It happened in the village of Hamira, northeast of the city of Aleppo and four kilometers (2.5 miles) from the Turkish border.”
The coalition said in its statement that “the mission was carefully planned to minimize the risk of collateral damage, particularly any potential harm to civilians.”
“No civilians were harmed, nor was there any damage to Coalition aircraft or property during the operation.”
desert hideout
IS lost its last territory in March 2019 after a military strike backed by a US-led coalition, its remnants retreated to a mostly desert base in Syria.
IS cells have since ambushed Kurdish-led forces and the Syrian government or allied forces, carrying out similar attacks in Iraq.
Top leaders of the Islamic State group, however, are often involved in areas controlled by other forces and where their own fighters are not active.
QureshiThe infamous predecessor, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was also killed in a US special forces raid in northwestern Syria, far from the area of IS operations.
Since Qureshi’s death, the group has continued to spread its message online, arguing that the West is vulnerable while Ukraine is at war with “crusaders[one]fighting each other”.
Little is known about the new leader, Abu Hassan al-Hashmi al-Kurshi, the third head of the jihadist group since its founding.
Media reports that he was captured in Istanbul last month were never confirmed, with a Turkish official only telling AFP that a senior but unidentified IS member had been detained.
Observers have long feared a resurgence of IS in the badlands along the Iraqi-Syrian border and formed the heart of the group’s once sprawling proto-state.
Yet with continued coalition pressure on its leadership and its sources of funding, the jihadist group still has no fixed position in either country and the intensity of its attacks has remained largely unchanged since 2019.