The US Central Command said Thursday that it had launched a successful raid targeting ISIS leaders in northern Syria.
In a statement, the command clarified that the raid was carried out around 6:32 pm local time in Syria, killing Abu Hashem al-Amawi, deputy governor of Syria, and another senior official in ISIS linked to him.
Initial assessments indicate that no civilians were killed or injured during this operation, according to the statement.
The statement continued, “No American forces were injured or killed, and there were no losses or damage to American equipment in the implementation of this operation.
“This strike will reduce ISIS’s ability to destabilize the region and strike our forces and partners,” the command said.
General Michael “Eric” Corella, commander of US Central Command. Our forces remain in the area to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS.”
Archyde.com had reported that a rare US raid on a village controlled by the Syrian regime in the north-east of the country, in the early hours of Thursday morning, led to the killing of an ISIS leader who was hiding there, according to two security sources.
The United States has carried out previous raids in Syria to target members of the Islamic State, but Thursday’s operation will be the first known operation in an area controlled by Syrian government forces, according to Archyde.com.
On Thursday, Syrian regime media reported that US special forces carried out a landing operation in the area, which led to the killing of one unnamed person, and did not mention that he was affiliated with the organization.
The operation took place in an area of Hasaka province, which is shared by government forces and Kurdish militants backed by Washington.
The Syrian Observatory, which relies on a network of activists and extensive sources on the ground, confirmed the landing, noting that the US forces arrested a person suspected of belonging to the “ISIS” organization, as well as “an Iraqi and a Syrian.”