In an early Sunday morning helicopter assault in eastern Syria, the US killed two ISIS leaders, according to a statement from US Central Command.
According to CENTCOM, the attack was a unilateral US action that had “considerable preparation,” and the first findings indicated that no civilians were killed or hurt.
“Anas,” a local ISIS leader active in organising activities in eastern Syria, was one of the officials killed.
“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,” said Central Command spokesman Col. Joe Buccino.
The US reaffirmed that it was dedicated to the fight against ISIS “in conjunction with local forces,” notwithstanding recent Turkish operations in northern Syria that targeted Kurdish troops, putting US people at danger and posing a destabilisation threat.
The death of ISIS commander Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al- Qurayshi was praised by the US two weeks ago. Unlike the previous commander, Hajji Abdullah, who died in a US raid in February, he was not assassinated by American forces.
(With inputs from agencies)
