IS chief blows himself up during US raid in Syria
US special forces carried out a nighttime airborne raid Thursday in northwestern Syria during which the head of the Islamic State group blew himself and his family up, the White House said. FRANCE 24's Chief International Affairs Editor Rob Parsons tells us more.
US-led raid in Syria targets jihadist, locals report civilian casualties
Wed, 2 February 2022,
A US-led coalition raid on Thursday targeted a suspected al Qaeda-affiliated jihadist in the northern Syrian town of Atmeh, resulting in several civilian casualties, said residents and sources with the rebels fighting against the Syrian government.
Personal belongings are strewn across the floor following the raid which the Pentagon described as "successful" (AFP/Abdulaziz KETAZ)
The Syrian Civil Defence said on Thursday that at least 13 people were killed, including six children, in shelling and clashes after a raid earlier that morning in northwestern Syria near Atmeh on the Turkish-Syrian border, where tens of thousands of displaced Syrians live in makeshift camps or overcrowded housing.
There was no immediate reports of any jihadist being killed, but residents said they heard heavy gunfire during the operation, indicating resistance to the raid.
The US State Department and the spokesperson for the coalition forces in northern Syria did not respond to requests for comment.
Charles Lister, senior fellow with the Washington-based Middle East Institute, said he had spoken to residents who said the operation lasted more than two hours.
"Clearly they wanted whoever it was alive," Lister said.
"This looks like the biggest of this type of operation" since the Baghdadi raid, he said.
Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died in a US special operations raid in northwest Syria in 2019.
Residents and rebel sources said several helicopters landed near Atmeh in the province of Idlib, the last big enclave held by insurgents fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and explosions were heard near the home of a foreign jihadist.
The jihadist who was the suspected target was with his family at the time of the raid, said a rebel official who declined to be named.
Unidentified planes hovering
Witnesses said the raid had ended as aircraft believed to be choppers had left the site, but unidentified reconnaissance planes were still hovering in the area.
The rebel official said security from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the main rebel group that controls parts of northwest Syria, hurried to the location after the raid.
The northwest of Syria – Idlib province and a belt of territory around it – is mostly held by Hyat Tahrir al-Sham, the former Nusra Front, which was part of al Qaeda until 2016.
Several foreign jihadists figures who split from the group have set up the Huras al-Din (Guardians of Religion) group, designated as a foreign terrorist organisation, which has in recent years been the target of coalition strikes.
For years, the U.S. military has launched mostly drones to kill top al-Qaeda operatives in northern Syria, where the militant group became active during Syria’s over decade-long civil war.
US-led coalition operations against remnants of Islamic State sleeper cells are more frequent in northeast Syria held by Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)
Wed, 2 February 2022,
A US-led coalition raid on Thursday targeted a suspected al Qaeda-affiliated jihadist in the northern Syrian town of Atmeh, resulting in several civilian casualties, said residents and sources with the rebels fighting against the Syrian government.
Personal belongings are strewn across the floor following the raid which the Pentagon described as "successful" (AFP/Abdulaziz KETAZ)
The Syrian Civil Defence said on Thursday that at least 13 people were killed, including six children, in shelling and clashes after a raid earlier that morning in northwestern Syria near Atmeh on the Turkish-Syrian border, where tens of thousands of displaced Syrians live in makeshift camps or overcrowded housing.
There was no immediate reports of any jihadist being killed, but residents said they heard heavy gunfire during the operation, indicating resistance to the raid.
The US State Department and the spokesperson for the coalition forces in northern Syria did not respond to requests for comment.
Charles Lister, senior fellow with the Washington-based Middle East Institute, said he had spoken to residents who said the operation lasted more than two hours.
"Clearly they wanted whoever it was alive," Lister said.
"This looks like the biggest of this type of operation" since the Baghdadi raid, he said.
Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died in a US special operations raid in northwest Syria in 2019.
Residents and rebel sources said several helicopters landed near Atmeh in the province of Idlib, the last big enclave held by insurgents fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and explosions were heard near the home of a foreign jihadist.
The jihadist who was the suspected target was with his family at the time of the raid, said a rebel official who declined to be named.
Unidentified planes hovering
Witnesses said the raid had ended as aircraft believed to be choppers had left the site, but unidentified reconnaissance planes were still hovering in the area.
The rebel official said security from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the main rebel group that controls parts of northwest Syria, hurried to the location after the raid.
The northwest of Syria – Idlib province and a belt of territory around it – is mostly held by Hyat Tahrir al-Sham, the former Nusra Front, which was part of al Qaeda until 2016.
Several foreign jihadists figures who split from the group have set up the Huras al-Din (Guardians of Religion) group, designated as a foreign terrorist organisation, which has in recent years been the target of coalition strikes.
For years, the U.S. military has launched mostly drones to kill top al-Qaeda operatives in northern Syria, where the militant group became active during Syria’s over decade-long civil war.
US-led coalition operations against remnants of Islamic State sleeper cells are more frequent in northeast Syria held by Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)
A Syrian civil defence team surveys the damage to a two-storey house on the outskirts of the rebel-held town of Atme that appears to have been one of the main targets of the US raid
(AFP/Aaref WATAD)
Aaref Watad with Layal Abou Rahal in Beirut
Thu, February 3, 2022,
US special forces hunted down high-ranking jihadists in a rare airborne raid in northwestern Syria on Thursday, killing 13 people in an operation the Pentagon described as "successful".
The operation was thought to be the biggest of its kind by US forces in the jihadist-controlled Idlib region since the 2019 raid that killed Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The targets of the latest operation around the town of Atme, which residents and other sources said lasted around two hours, were not immediately clear.
A Syrian civil defence volunteer combs the rubble of the building which bore the scars of an intense battle (AFP/Mohammed AL-RIFAI)
Names circulating on social media and among local residents suggested the US raid was not aimed at IS operatives but at members of rival jihadist group Al-Qaeda.
The Pentagon stopped short of revealing its target in the nighttime raid but said more information would be provided later.
"US Special Operations forces under the control of US Central Command conducted a counterterrorism mission this evening in northwest Syria," spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.
"The mission was successful. There were no US casualties," he added, without elaborating.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said seven civilians were among at least 13 people killed in the operation, which saw elite US forces make a perilous helicopter landing near Atme.
"13 people at least were killed, among them four children and three women, during the operation," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
AFP correspondents were able to visit a home on the outskirts of Atme which appeared to be one of the main targets of the US special forces.
Aaref Watad with Layal Abou Rahal in Beirut
Thu, February 3, 2022,
US special forces hunted down high-ranking jihadists in a rare airborne raid in northwestern Syria on Thursday, killing 13 people in an operation the Pentagon described as "successful".
The operation was thought to be the biggest of its kind by US forces in the jihadist-controlled Idlib region since the 2019 raid that killed Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The targets of the latest operation around the town of Atme, which residents and other sources said lasted around two hours, were not immediately clear.
A Syrian civil defence volunteer combs the rubble of the building which bore the scars of an intense battle (AFP/Mohammed AL-RIFAI)
Names circulating on social media and among local residents suggested the US raid was not aimed at IS operatives but at members of rival jihadist group Al-Qaeda.
The Pentagon stopped short of revealing its target in the nighttime raid but said more information would be provided later.
"US Special Operations forces under the control of US Central Command conducted a counterterrorism mission this evening in northwest Syria," spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.
"The mission was successful. There were no US casualties," he added, without elaborating.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said seven civilians were among at least 13 people killed in the operation, which saw elite US forces make a perilous helicopter landing near Atme.
"13 people at least were killed, among them four children and three women, during the operation," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
AFP correspondents were able to visit a home on the outskirts of Atme which appeared to be one of the main targets of the US special forces.
- Fierce battle -
The two-storey building of raw cinder blocks bore the scars of an intense battle, with torn window frames, charred ceilings and a partly collapsed roof.
In some of the rooms, blood was splattered high on the walls and stained the floor, littered with foam mattresses and shards from smashed doors.
US special forces have carried out several operations against high-value jihadist targets in the Idlib area in recent months.
The area, the last enclave to actively oppose the government of Bashar al-Assad, is home to more than three million people and is dominated by jihadists.
The region is mostly administered by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group led by former members of what was once Al-Qaeda's franchise in Syria.
In recent years, it has tried to cast itself as a more moderate player focused only on Syrian matters and condemning international terrorism.
HTS has carried out military sweep operations to weed out more radical jihadist groups, such as Hurras al-Deen, which has more organic links with Al-Qaeda.
Atme is home to a huge camp for families displaced by the decade-old conflict and which experts have warned was being used by jihadists as a place to hide among civilians.
On October 23, the US military announced the killing of senior Al-Qaeda leader Abdul Hamid Al-Matar.
"Al-Qaeda uses Syria as a safe haven to rebuild, coordinate with external affiliates, and plan external operations," said Central Command spokesman Army Major John Rigsbee in a statement at the time.
Syrian government forces and their main military backer Russia have carried out repeated attacks against jihadist and rebel groups in the Idlib region.
However a ceasefire deal which was brokered by Moscow and Ankara, the two main foreign powers in the area, almost two years ago is still officially in place.
Assad has long insisted his goal was to recapture the whole of Syria, including Idlib province, but the contours of the jihadist-run enclave have remained largely unchanged since early 2020.
bur-jmm/kir
