US Central Command forces worked with the Syrian military to conduct a helicopter raid which led to the capture of an ISIS official identified as Batar.
US Captures Top ISIS Official after Conducting Helicopter Raid in Syria
The United States military and Syrian Democratic Forces on Saturday conducted a helicopter raid in eastern Syria that led to the capture of a top ISIS official, according to a press release statement from US Central Command.
Batar, “an ISIS Syria Province Official involved in planning attacks on SDF-guarded detention centers and manufacturing improvised explosive devices,” was captured in the raid, CENTCOM said in the press release.
The US did not provide any additional information or evidence regarding its claims about Batar.
No civilians, Syrian soldiers, or US forces were killed or injured, the statement said.
Shortly after the press release, CENTCOM issued another statement saying coalition forces had been attacked by rockets in northeast Syria on Saturday evening.
No US or coalition troops were injured and no damage to equipment or infrastructure occurred during the rocket attack that targeted Green Village, a coalition base in northeast Syria.
US forces are investigating the incident.
News of Saturday’s successful raid comes the day after a helicopter raid in Syria on Thursday night left Hamza al-Homsi, a senior ISIS leader, dead and also wounded four US troops and a working dog, according to US military.
CENTCOM confirmed al-Homsi’s death during the helicopter raid and said that all four US service members, together with the dog, were being treated for their injuries at a US medical facility in Iraq.
“Hamza al-Homsi oversaw the group’s deadly terrorist network in eastern Syria before he was killed in the raid,” CENTCOM spokesman Col. Joe Buccino told Fox News Digital.
Officials told CNN that US forces were “close to” the ISIS leader when an explosion occurred, killing him and wounding the US troops. It is unclear at this point if the explosion was the result of a suicide vest, a booby trap, or something else, two officials said.
Sinam Mohamad, the representative of the Syrian Democratic Council to the US, told Fox News Digital that US presence “in northeast Syria is still essential to end ISIS”.