The U.S. Central Command announced that "its forces targeted a prominent leader of ISIS and killed him in a helicopter raid in northern Syria early Monday morning, in addition to targeting a field planning official." The command revealed that the targets "were responsible for planning attacks in the Middle East and Europe," confirming via Twitter that "there were no injuries among U.S. forces, no damage to U.S. helicopters, and no casualties or injuries among civilians."
The statement noted that the raid targeted Abdul Hadi Mahmoud Al-Haj Ali and followed intelligence indicating ISIS's intention to abduct officials abroad. General Michael Kurilla, commander of U.S. Central Command, stated earlier, "Despite having suffered setbacks, ISIS is still capable of conducting operations in the region while wishing to launch attacks beyond the Middle East." He added that other militants were killed in the raid, with no harm to civilians.
In a related operation, the international coalition forces executed an airborne raid early Monday near the village of Suweida in the countryside of Jarabulus east of Aleppo. According to local sources from the "Sham" news network, "several helicopters belonging to the international coalition took off from the Kharab Ashak base in the Ain Arab (Kobani) countryside and flew at low altitude over the Suweida village before intense clashes began in the area, lasting over an hour."
The sources reported that "the operation targeted a person named Ibrahim Al-Maan, nicknamed 'Delham,' who is an ISIS leader that had been detained by the Syrian Democratic Forces and was released six months ago. The operation resulted in his arrest and subsequent killing, with his body being thrown in Al-Hajar Al-Aswad village."
The international coalition forces also arrested another individual, with "Sham" news indicating he is believed to be a leader from ISIS named Hilal Abu Talib, from Al-Safira.
