U.S. commando raid kills ISIS leader

U.S. Special Operations forces staged an overnight ground raid in Syria early Saturday, killing what the Obama administration said was a senior Islamic State official and capturing his wife.

Delta Force troops, flying from Iraq aboard Black Hawk helicopters and V-22 Ospreys, encountered almost immediate fire from ISIS militant forces when they touched down in al-Amr, near eastern Syrian oil fields that the Islamic State has tapped to generate income with black-market fuel sales.

In what a U.S. Defense official described as “close-quarters combat” against militants using women and children as human shields, about a dozen militants were killed. They included the target of what was originally designed as a capture operation, identified by the White House and the Pentagon as Abu Sayyaf, a Tunisian.

His wife, identified only as Umm Sayyaf, was said to have been captured and brought back to Iraq in one of the bullet-riddled U.S. aircraft that landed at dawn back in Iraq. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said that no U.S. forces were killed or injured during the operation. No civilians were reported injured.

Assets are seized

U.S. forces recovered laptops, cellphones, files and a number of archaeological artifacts and historic items, including an Assyrian Bible and antique coins, the Defense official said.

The soldiers also rescued a young woman, an Iraqi from the minority Yazidi sect, who was being held by the couple as a slave, according to statements issued by the White House and the Defense Department. Countless Yazidis have been executed or enslaved by the Islamic State as it has moved through their homeland in northern Iraq. Officials said they hoped to reunite her with her family.

The raid was only the second time U.S. Special Operations forces are known to have operated on the ground in Syria, and the first “direct action” mission by American forces there. Special operators conducted an unsuccessful mission last summer to rescue American hostages being held by the militants, who later executed them.

President Barack Obama has said that U.S. forces, who have been conducting airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria and neighboring Iraq, will not enter either of those countries in a ground combat role. Although several thousand U.S. troops are in Iraq training and assisting Iraqi forces, the administration has said there are none in Syria.

The raid in Syria came as ISIS forces in Iraq tightened their grip on the city of Ramadi, in a significant setback to Iraq’s U.S.-backed government. Residents and police reached inside the city, the capital of Iraq’s largest province, said the militants were executing dozens of civilians and blowing up homes.

In Washington, the Defense official described Abu Sayyaf as “fairly high up” in the Islamic State hierarchy, but not among the four most senior militants tracked by the United States. In addition to directing oil and gas operations in Syria, Abu Sayyaf was also “involved with the group’s military operation” and likely in contact with Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the White House said.

ISIS revenue targeted

Many of the U.S.-led airstrikes in Syria have targeted oil and gas refinery and storage sites, and the administration has said it has significantly reduced ISIS revenues from that source. Al-Amr is located southeast of Deir al-Zour, the largest city in eastern Syria.

The U.S. expectation was that Abu Sayyaf’s removal will lead to further disruption in the Islamic State’s “revenue-generating network and command and control of (ISIS) operations,” according to a senior administration official.

Beyond statements issued by the White House and Defense Department early Saturday, senior officials spoke on the condition of anonymity about still-secret details of the raid.

Weeks of observation

Officials said that the building targeted in the operation had been under surveillance for several weeks before the raid. The White House statement said that Obama authorized the operation “with full consent of Iraqi authorities” and upon “the unanimous recommendation of his national security team.”

Senior lawmakers, including the leaders of intelligence committees in the House and Senate, were briefed on the mission Friday, and were to be given details of the operation in further briefings this week.

The attempt to capture Abu Sayyaf was made not only because of the positions he held, but also to obtain information about the Islamic State and possible hostages who are still being held by the militants, officials said.

Although there are no public reports of Americans being held in Syria, the senior administration official said: “We are aware of reports that other U.S. citizens have gone missing in Syria. But due to privacy concerns, we have no further comment.”

Other officials said that the intelligence community and the FBI continue to gather information and evidence in connection with previous hostages.

U.S. ground raid

The last known U.S. ground raid inside Syria took place in July, when Navy SEALs landed outside the north-central city of Raqqa, which serves as Islamic State headquarters in that country, to rescue journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff. When they arrived, they found the hostages had been moved. Foley, Sotloff and several European hostages were subsequently beheaded by the militants, and an American woman held with them, Kayla Mueller, was also later killed.

The White House statement on the most recent raid said that U.S. forces were working “to determine an ultimate disposition” for Umm Sayyaf, who it said was currently being held in “U.S. military detention in Iraq.”

The Defense official said she was being debriefed and described her as a “player” in ISIS and an active participant in her husband’s activities. The senior administration official said that Umm Sayyaf was being debriefed “to obtain intelligence about (ISIS) operations” and “to determine any information she may have regarding hostages – including American citizens who were held by (ISIS).”

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.