https://ift.tt/ztPAf5j United States struck additional key blows against the Islamic State terror group, removing a couple of senior leaders from the battlefield in two separate nighttime helicopter raids in northeastern Syria.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees American forces in the Middle East and South Asia, said the raids, carried out Thursday with the help of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), targeted Hamza al-Homsi, who oversaw the terror organization’s network in eastern Syria, and another operative who led an IS assassination cell.
But despite the successes, U.S. officials said, the raid against al-Homsi in the vicinity of Deir el-Zour turned dicey when the IS leader triggered an explosive device, possibly a hand grenade.
The blast wounded four U.S. service members and a service dog, who were taken to medical facilities in Iraq. They were reported to be in stable condition and receiving treatment.
There were no other injuries to U.S. or SDF forces in either of the raids, and initial assessments indicated no civilians were hurt.
The raids targeting al-Homsi and the assassination cell leader were the latest in a series of operations that have whittled away at senior IS leadership.
Earlier this week, CENTCOM announced that a raid on February 10 killed Ibrahim Al Qahtani, an IS official involved with planning attacks to break the terror group’s members out of prisons across northeastern Syria.
Last month, a U.S. operation in eastern Syria resulted in the capture of two IS facilitators, Abdallah Hamid Muslih al-Maddad, also known as Abu Hamza al-Suri, and Husam Hamid al-Muslih al-Maddad al-Khayr, as well as one of al-Khayr’s associates.