US troops attacked a leader of the “jihadist” group Islamic State (IS) in northern Syria on Monday, which was planning attacks in Europe and the Middle East, the US military announced, as several organizations reported the death of announced this agent.
This new attack, part of a series of US offensives aimed at beheading IS after its defeat in Syria in 2019, was carried out in an area controlled by pro-Turkish armed groups in the north of the country.
Two other “armed individuals” were killed in this helicopter attack, according to a press release from the US military command for the Middle East (Centcom).
Centcom later clarified that the target was a senior IS leader in Syria, identified as Abdel Hadi Mahmoud al-Haji Ali, who was planning “terrorist” attacks in the Middle East and Europe.
The identities of the other two dead have not been disclosed, the France-Presse news agency (AFP) reported.
According to the same source, no civilians or members of the US armed forces were killed or injured in the operation.
A Turkish group deployed to the Soueida region, where the attack took place, not far from the Turkish border, said two of their fighters who had moved to the site had been killed.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), which has an extensive network of sources in Syria, “Violent clashes occurred during the attack with two projectiles hitting the building where an ISIS member was. [um acrónimo do grupo radical EI]”.
The latter and two other fighters were killed, the UK-based watchdog said, adding that the targeted IS leader was from Manbij, a southern region controlled by Kurdish forces.
The OSDH also stressed that six months ago, upon leaving Manbij prison, this IS leader fled to Soueida, where he was protected by a pro-Turkish group deployed in this region near the border.
OSDH director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP that after IS’s territorial defeat, many “jihadists” have joined pro-Turkish rebel groups in northern Syria.
Also on Monday, residents of Soueida told an AFP journalist that an IS leader was killed while trying to flee and that his body had been given to one of his brothers.
The Syrian White Helmets, a civil defense group operating in opposition-controlled areas in northern Syria, said they transported two people injured in the attack to a local hospital and later said they had died.
The same source added that a third person was killed in the US attack.
Despite the territorial defeat, IS continues to carry out attacks in Syria. The terror group attacked shepherds and truffle pickers in the desert again on Sunday, killing more than 40 people.
The US military, for its part, has carried out several attacks in recent years against leaders of the ‘jihadist’ group in Syria.
In early April, the US announced it had killed an IS leader responsible for attacks in Europe, whom it identified as Khaled Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri.
IS claimed responsibility for a series of deadly attacks in Europe during its reign, when it controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq.
In October 2019, Washington announced the death of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a US operation. His two successors were also killed in Syria in February and November 2022.
The war in Syria, which started in 2011, has killed an estimated 500,000 people, destroyed the country’s infrastructure and displaced millions of people.
Source: DN
