A senior ISIS leader was killed in a Thursday night helicopter raid in northeast Syria, where four servicemembers and their dog was injured, U.S. Central Command tweeted Friday. The troops and the dog are being treated in Iraq. They are all reportedly in stable condition.
Task and Purpose said the injuries occurred in an explosion during the pursuit of ISIS leader Hamza al-Homsi. U.S. troops partnered with Syrian Democratic Forces in the initiative, according to defense officials.
A Feb. 10 raid killed ISIS operative Ibrahim Al Qahtani, who Central Command said planned attacks on ISIS detention facilities. More than 10,000 ISIS members are reportedly being detained in Syria.
Roughly 900 American troops are based in northeast Syria. The White House said in 2020 it’s goals there include addressing humanitarian shortfalls and disrupting fundamentalist terror networks posing a threat globally.
Syria’s president has pressured the U.S. to leave. Former President Donald Trump called for American troops to withdraw from Syria in October 2019. Sen. Schumer argued a U.S. presence in Syria would “ensure the security of Americans right here in New York.”
ISIS members have reportedly escaped Syrian prisons amid the chaos resulting from that nation’s civil war, which has involved Turkey, Russia and Iran.
U.S. forces posted a photo online Tuesday of what they said was a drone shot down while passing over a military patrol base in northeast Syria.
