[ad_1]
The raid focused Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, who took over as head of the militant group on October 31, 2019, simply days after chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died throughout a US raid in the identical space.
He’s also called Amir Muhammad Sa’id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla.
The operation got here as IS has been making an attempt for a resurgence, with a sequence of assaults within the area, together with a 10-day assault late final month to grab a jail.
US particular forces landed in helicopters and assaulted a home in a rebel-held nook of Syria, clashing for 2 hours with gunmen, witnesses mentioned. Residents described steady gunfire and explosions that jolted the city of Atmeh close to the Turkish border, an space dotted with camps for internally displaced folks from Syria’s civil conflict.
Biden mentioned in an announcement that he ordered the raid to “defend the American folks and our allies, and make the world a safer place.” He deliberate to deal with the American public later Thursday morning.
“Because of the talent and bravado of our Armed Forces, we’ve taken off the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi — the chief of ISIS,” Biden mentioned in an announcement. He mentioned all People concerned within the operation returned safely.
First responders on the scene, also called the White Helmets, reported 13 folks had been killed, together with six kids and 4 girls.
“The mission was profitable,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby mentioned in a quick assertion.
“There have been no US casualties. Extra info can be offered because it turns into obtainable.”
Residents mentioned helicopters flew overhead and US forces clashed with gunmen for greater than two hours round a two-story home surrounded by olive bushes.
The highest flooring of the home was virtually completely destroyed in Thursday’s raid, with the ceiling and partitions knocked out.
“The primary moments had been terrifying, nobody knew what was taking place,” mentioned Jamil el-Deddo, a resident of a close-by refugee camp.
“We had been apprehensive it might be Syrian plane, which introduced again reminiscences of barrel bombs that was once dropped on us,” he added, referring to crude explosives-filled containers utilized by President Bashar Assad’s forces in opposition to opponents through the Syrian battle.
Residents and activists described witnessing a big floor assault, with US forces utilizing megaphones urging girls and youngsters to depart the realm.
Omar Saleh, a resident of a close-by home, mentioned his doorways and home windows began to rattle to the sound of low-flying plane at 1.10am native time. He then heard a person, talking Arabic with an Iraqi or Saudi accent by way of a loudspeaker, urging girls to give up or depart the realm.
“This went on for 45 minutes. There was no response. Then the machine gun hearth erupted,” Saleh mentioned. He mentioned the firing continued for 2 hours, as plane circled low over the realm.
Taher al-Omar, an Idlib-based activist, mentioned he witnessed clashes between fighters and the US power. Others reported listening to a minimum of one main explosion through the operation.
A US official mentioned that one of many helicopters within the raid suffered a mechanical downside and needed to be blown up on the bottom. The US official spoke on situation of anonymity to debate particulars of the navy operation.
The navy operation bought consideration on social media, with tweets from the area describing helicopters firing across the constructing close to Atmeh.
Flight-tracking information additionally instructed that a number of drones had been circling town of Sarmada and the village of Salwah, simply north of the raid’s location.
The US has prior to now used drones to kill prime al-Qaida operatives in Idlib, which at one level was house to the group’s greatest focus of leaders for the reason that days of Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.
[ad_2]
Source link