A U.S. UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter flies over the Syrian landscape, March 12, 2018. U.S. troops captured an Islamic State official and two of his associates during an evening helicopter raid Saturday, April 8, 2023, in eastern Syria, U.S. Central Command announced (Timothy Koster/U.S. Army)
U.S. troops captured an Islamic State official and two of his associates during an evening helicopter raid last weekend in eastern Syria, U.S. Central Command announced Wednesday.
A CENTCOM statement said the arrest of Hudayfah al-Yemeni, an ISIS “attack facilitator,” and his associates would disrupt the organization’s ability to plot and carry out operations. The statement said no civilians were killed or injured in the Saturday raid.
“Operations against ISIS are important for the security and stability of the region,” said CENTCOM spokesman Col. Joe Buccino. “ISIS remains a threat to the region and beyond — the group retains the capability to conduct operations in Iraq and Syria with a desire to strike beyond the Middle East, and its vile ideology remains a threat. Operations such as this one reaffirms our commitment to the enduring defeat of ISIS.”
The capture of al-Yemeni was the latest in a series of recent operations in Syria, where the United States maintains about 900 troops trying to prevent a resurgence of ISIS.
Last week, a strike by U.S. troops in northwest Syria killed an ISIS senior leader, Khalid ‘Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri, in charge of planning attacks in Europe and Turkey, according to CENTCOM.
In the first three months of the year, American troops have launched at least 34 operations against ISIS in Syria, according to CENTCOM statements.
