Sources confirm killing of ISIS leader in Idlib countryside

Reuters reported that U.S. forces took part at dawn Wednesday in a raid targeting an ISIS leader inside a house in Atmeh, north of Idlib, according to a U.S. official and a Syrian security source.

A second Syrian security source said the ISIS leader was killed while trying to escape. The U.S. official described him as a “high-value potential target.” The first source said he was Iraqi, married to a French woman, without clarifying her fate.

The operation began around 2 a.m., with helicopters and drones providing air cover as U.S. forces carried out the raid themselves.

Eyewitnesses said the security operation was launched from areas of North and East Syria. Neither the Syrian Democratic Forces nor the Coalition has commented so far.

The Pentagon had previously announced in July a raid in Aleppo province that killed a senior ISIS leader along with his two adult sons, who were also ISIS members.

Idlib and other areas under Turkish occupation in Syria have long been a safe haven for ISIS leaders. U.S. forces killed former ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in the village of Barisha in 2019, and his successor Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi in Atmeh in 2022..

AMHA