An MH-60 Black Hawk assigned to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment during night operations in 2021. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Hector Carrera.
An early morning helicopter raid by US special operations forces killed two ISIS officials in eastern Syria on Sunday, Dec. 11.
One of those killed was known as Anas, whom officials at US Central Command described as a planning official in the region.
Officials said their initial assessment was that no civilians were injured.
The US has kept pressure on the Islamic State group in Syria. The raid comes less than two weeks after it was reported that ISIS leader Abu Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi had been killed in combat. The US said al-Qurayshi was killed in an operation conducted by rebel forces in mid-October.
Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service soldiers wait for their convoy to move toward Mosul, Iraq, Feb. 23, 2017. US Army photo by Staff Sgt. Alex Manne.
“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,” Joe Buccino, a CENTCOM spokesperson, said in a statement. “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.”
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Matt White is a former senior editor for Coffee or Die Magazine. He was a pararescueman in the Air Force and the Alaska Air National Guard for eight years and has more than a decade of experience in daily and magazine journalism.
