ISIS leader killed, US troops wounded in raid in Syria

An Islamic State (ISIS) group leader was killed and four US troops wounded in a US helicopter raid on northeast Syria, the Defense Department said in a statement on Friday, as quoted by Reuters.

The statement said “an explosion on target resulted in four US servicemembers and one working dog wounded” on Thursday, adding that “the targeted ISIS senior leader, Hamza al-Homsi, was killed.”

It did not elaborate on what Homsi’s role was.

ISIS overran large swathes of Syria and neighboring Iraq in 2014, proclaiming a “caliphate” in land it controlled.

Several military offensives, including those backed by the US-led international coalition, have since seen ISIS lose most areas it once controlled, including the loss of their de facto capital in Raqqa, Syria.

However, ISIS sleeper calls remain in the area continue to carry out deadly attacks in Syria and Iraq. US raids in the area regularly target ISIS members and leaders.

Last month, American forces captured two ISIS members during an air and ground assault in eastern Syria.

In December, American forces killed two ISIS terrorists in eastern Syria in a helicopter raid. One of the two targeted ISIS leaders, Anas, was described as an “ISIS Syria Province official” involved in plotting attacks in eastern Syria.

In October, US forces killed two top ISIS leaders in an air strike in northern Syria.

The strike killed Abu ‘Ala, one of the top five ISIS leaders and the deputy leader of ISIS in Syria, as well as Abu Mu’Ad al-Qahtani, an ISIS official responsible for prisoner affairs, officials said.

(Israel National News’ North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)