U.S. Central Command Says It killed Two Senior ISIS Officials In Eastern Syrian Helicopter Raid

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that two senior officials of ISIS were killed during a successful helicopter raid in eastern Syria on December 11.

In a statement, CENTCOM said that one of the two officials, identified as Anas, held a senior position in ISIS Syria Province and was involved in the terrorist group’s “deadly plotting and facilitation operations” in the region.

According to the command, initial assessments indicate that no civilians were killed or wounded during the operation which went thought “extensive planning.”

“ISIS continues to represent a threat to the security and stability of the region. This operation reaffirms CENTCOM’s steadfast commitment to ensuring the group’s enduring defeat,” said Joe Buccino, a CENTCOM spokesperson. “The death of these ISIS officials will disrupt the terrorist organization’s ability to further plot and carry out destabilizing attacks in the Middle East.”

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the raid took place in the town of al-Zir in the southeastern countryside of Deir Ezzor. According to the London-based monitoring group, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) took part in the operation.

Early on in December, the SDF halted all joint operations with U.S. forces to protest repeated Turkish strikes and threats of a new ground invasion of its territory. However, the halt ended soon after.

The U.S. raid was the most recent in a series of blows to ISIS in Syria. In mid-October, the terrorist group’s top leader Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi was killed in the country’s southern region during a joint operation by Syrian government forces and former rebels.

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