The US has killed two top ISIS leaders in a targeted airstrike in Syria on Thursday, defence officials said.
The strike killed Abu ‘Ala, described as one of the top five leaders of the barbaric terrorist militant group and the deputy leader of ISIS in Syria.
Also killed was Abu Mu’Ad al-Qahtani, a terrorist official responsible for prisoner affairs.
It has been reported that the US spent over 1,000 hours collecting intelligence in order to carry out the strike to try and limit collateral damages. The US said that no civilians were killed or wounded in the airstrike.
The operation was not conducted by the global coalition to defeat the group, of which the UK is a partnership among the likes of Canada, France and Germany.
Image:
AFP via Getty Images)The airstrike follows a raid by helicopter near the northern Syrian city of Qamishli on Wednesday, where US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it had targeted and killed known jihadist and ISIS official Rakkan Wahid al-Shammri.
Troops landed at a government-held village of Muluk Sarayoutside Qamishli before dawn broke on Thursday, in a significant break from the past given it took place in a Syrian-government-controlled area.
The US has conducted raids in the past to target ISIS members, but in ISIS-held regions.
It said: "Last night, US Central Command forces conducted a helicopter raid in northeast Syria, near the [city] of Qamishli, targeting Rakkan Wahid al-Shammri, an ISIS official known to facilitate the smuggling of weapons and fighters to support ISIS operations."
Image:
AFP via Getty Images)The command centre also said that al-Shammri's associate was wounded, and two others were detained by US forces in the rare raid.
CENTCOM added: "During the operation, the targeted individual was killed and one of his associates was wounded."
Syrian state television claimed that one civilian was killed and a number of others were kidnapped.
The operation took place on Thursday in an area of Hassakeh province, which is partly held by government forces and partly held by US-backed Kurdish fighters.
Command spokesperson Colonel Joe Buccino said: "US CENTCOM is committed to our allies and partners in the enduring defeat of ISIS."
Two security sources confirmed to Reuters that the top ISIS leader was killed during the mission and said the US forces had taken his body with them as they retreated.
A local source said the man had moved to the village of Muluk Saray in recent years from Taif, a town near the border with Iraq that was once an Islamic State stronghold.
"People thought he was a shepherd - no one knows his true identity," said the source.
