US-led Coalition Says it Detained Senior ISIS Leader in Syria

A US patrol in Qamishli in northeastern Syria. AFP
A US patrol in Qamishli in northeastern Syria. AFP
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US-led Coalition Says it Detained Senior ISIS Leader in Syria

A US patrol in Qamishli in northeastern Syria. AFP
A US patrol in Qamishli in northeastern Syria. AFP

The US-led coalition said it had detained a senior ISIS leader in Syria during an early-morning operation on Thursday.

The coalition conducts raids and strikes targeting members of the group, which has been waging insurgent attacks since its defeat on the battlefield three years ago.

"The detained individual was assessed to be an experienced bomb maker and facilitator who became one of the group’s top leaders in Syria," the statement said, adding no civilians were harmed during the operation nor aircraft damaged.

The coalition did not specify in what part of Syria Thursday's raid took place.

A spokesperson for a separate Turkish-backed Syrian group told Reuters earlier on Thursday that coalition forces had carried out a helicopter raid in the village of Al-Humaira just south of the Turkish border, the first operation of its kind in the area.

Major Youssef Hamoud, a spokesman for the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) said US-made Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters were involved but said the exact circumstances were unclear at the time.

"This is the first (US) helicopter landing operation to happen" in areas under the SNA's control, he said.

A source in touch with opposition fighters in the area said clashes erupted during the operation.

United States special forces in February undertook a helicopter raid in Syria's Idlib province controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) that led to the death of ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim Al-Hashemi Al-Quraishi.

Quraishi had led the group since the death of its founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was also killed when he detonated explosives during a US raid in 2019.



Egypt and EU Agree 90 Million Euro Deal to Boost Food Security

FILE - A volunteer distributes free juice ahead of Iftar, the evening meal breaking the Ramadan fast, at El-Gamaliyya district in Cairo, Egypt Friday, April 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)
FILE - A volunteer distributes free juice ahead of Iftar, the evening meal breaking the Ramadan fast, at El-Gamaliyya district in Cairo, Egypt Friday, April 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)
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Egypt and EU Agree 90 Million Euro Deal to Boost Food Security

FILE - A volunteer distributes free juice ahead of Iftar, the evening meal breaking the Ramadan fast, at El-Gamaliyya district in Cairo, Egypt Friday, April 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)
FILE - A volunteer distributes free juice ahead of Iftar, the evening meal breaking the Ramadan fast, at El-Gamaliyya district in Cairo, Egypt Friday, April 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)

Egypt and the European Commission have signed a 90 million euro ($93.9 million) soft funding agreement to enhance food security, the Egyptian ministry of international cooperation said on Monday.
The funding, provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB), aims to improve Egypt's grain storage and logistics infrastructure, Reuters reported.
The initiative is part of the broader Food Resilience Project, which also receives support from the European Union and the World Bank, with additional grants and financing totaling 210 million euros ($219.3 million).
According to the ministry's statement, the agreement will enable the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) to improve its capacity to import and store wheat more efficiently.
This is the second time this year that GASC receives financing to import wheat, despite having been replaced as the state grain buyer by the military-affiliated Mostakbal Misr at the end of last year.
On February 4, GASC signed a $700 million loan agreement with the Islamic Trade Finance Corporation to bolster its food security efforts.
Egypt is the world's top wheat importer, as the grain is mainly used to produce subsidized bread for tens of millions of Egyptians.