BAGHDAD — U.S.-led coalition forces captured a senior chief of the extremist Islamic State group in a navy operation in northern Syria on Thursday, the coalition stated.
In a press release, it stated the captured chief was an skilled bomb maker and operational facilitator, describing him as one of many prime leaders of the militant group’s department in Syria.
The assertion didn’t determine the person nor say the place precisely in northern Syria the raid occurred. It stated the operation was “profitable” with no civilians harmed and no accidents to the coalition forces. The coalition didn’t reply to queries from The Related Press.
Three Iraqi intelligence officers, nonetheless, recognized the person as Ahmad Hani al-Kurdi, a Syrian nationwide who rose by way of militant ranks to turn out to be one of the crucial senior and harmful IS leaders and an skilled on manufacturing booby-traps and explosives.
For some time, he was the IS chief in command of the Syrian metropolis of Raqqa, when it was the de facto capital of the group’s so-called Islamic “caliphate” that stretched throughout a lot of Iraq and Syria. The Iraqi intel officers spoke to the AP on situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t approved to provide out the knowledge.
The U.S.-backed forces declared victory over the Islamic State group in March 2019 after retaking the final piece of territory held by IS in Syria. However the militants proceed to function and perform lethal assaults in each Iraq and Syria by way of sleeper cells; the group additionally maintains a number of associates in varied international locations.
A Syria conflict monitor, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, stated the operation started with two helicopters touchdown close to the focused space within the village of al-Humaira, about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the Turkish border.
It reported clashes with gunmen hiding in homes within the village within the northern Aleppo countryside as they have been chased by members of the coalition. The Observatory has a community of activists on the bottom in Syria.
The coalition has performed raids previously to take out IS leaders. In February, the group’s chief Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi blew himself up together with members of his household as American forces raided his Syria hideout.
His predecessor, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, died equally alongside together with his household in 2019 by detonating a suicide vest in a tunnel in northwest Syria as a navy operation unfolded throughout the Trump administration.
The IS group on the peak of its energy managed greater than 40,000 sq. miles stretching from Syria to Iraq and dominated over 8 million individuals. Its assaults within the area included a significant assault final month to grab a jail in northeast Syria holding a minimum of 3,000 IS detainees.’’
