On Saturday (February 18), the United States military announced it had captured a top ISIS official after conducting a helicopter raid in Eastern Syria.
A press release by CENTCOM revealed that U.S. Central Command forces working alongside the Syrian military conducted a helicopter raid which resulted in an ISIS official identified as Batar being captured.
The press release states Batar was “involved in planning attacks on SDF [Syrian Democratic Forces]-guarded detention centers.”
Batar was also involved in “manufacturing improvised explosive devices,” according to the press release, which also revealed that there weren’t any casualties or injuries among U.S. forces, Syrian soldiers, or civilians.
Shortly following the press release of the successful raid, CENTCOM issued another release stating that coalition forces had been attacked by rockets in North East Syria on Saturday evening. The second release added that no injuries or casualties were reported following the attack.
News of the successful raid, and possible retaliation attack, comes a day after CENTCOM revealed four U.S. service members had been injured during a raid that resulted in the death of a senior ISIS leader.
CENTCOM spokesman Col. Joe Buccino confirmed the death of Hamza al-Homsi, explaining that al-Homsi “oversaw the [ISIS’s] deadly terrorist network in eastern Syria before he was killed in the raid.”
Buccino also explained that the four U.S. members and the service dog injured during the raid were being treated at a U.S. hospital in Iraq.
Syrian Democratic Council representative, Sonam Mohamad, expressed that the “U.S. presence in North East Syria is still essential to end ISIS.”
