A fully armed MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle taxis down the runway at an air base in Afghanistan on its way to another wartime mission. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson).
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on October 4 that it had eliminated three leaders of ISIS during two separate operations in Syria.
In a statement, the command said that its forces conducted a helicopter raid in northeastern Syria targeting Rakkan Wahid al-Shammri, an ISIS official known to facilitate the smuggling of weapons and fighters to support the operations of the terrorist group.
The raid took place in the village of Muluk Saray in the northern countryside of al-Hasakah, which is held by Syrian government forces.
“During the operation, the targeted individual was killed and one of his associates was wounded. Two additional associates were detained by U.S. forces,” the CENTCOM said in its statement.
This was the first time the U.S.-led coalition has conducted a raid in a government-held area since the start of its counter-terrorism operations in Syria in 2014.
In a second statement, which was released just a few hours after the first, the CENTCOM said that it had killed two leaders of ISIS in a strike on northern Syria.
The command identified only one of the leaders, Abu-Hashum al-Umawi, a deputy Wali of Syria. Speaking to the CNN, U.S. officials identified the second leader as Abu Mu’Ad al-Qahtani, an ISIS official responsible for prisoner affairs,
“This strike will degrade ISIS’ ability to destabilize the region and strike at our forces and partners,” said General Michael “Erik” Kurilla, CENTCOM Commander. “Our forces remain in the region to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS.”
It remains unknown where exactly the deadly strike took places. Syrians news sources didn’t report any aerial attack on the country’s northern region in the last 24 hours.
The U.S.-led coalition has killed several senior leaders of ISIS, including the terrorist group’s top leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, in Syria since the start of the year. Nevertheless, the group’s influence in the country remains strong, especially in areas occupied by the coalition in the northeastern region.
