US Says ISIS Commander Killed, Troops Wounded in NE Syria Raid

US soldiers during a combined joint patrol in Manbij, Syria, November 1, 2018. (US Army/Handout via Reuters)
US soldiers during a combined joint patrol in Manbij, Syria, November 1, 2018. (US Army/Handout via Reuters)
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US Says ISIS Commander Killed, Troops Wounded in NE Syria Raid

US soldiers during a combined joint patrol in Manbij, Syria, November 1, 2018. (US Army/Handout via Reuters)
US soldiers during a combined joint patrol in Manbij, Syria, November 1, 2018. (US Army/Handout via Reuters)

The US military said Friday a helicopter raid led by its forces in northeast Syria left a senior leader with the ISIS group dead and four American service members wounded.

The military added in the short statement that the operation was conducted Thursday night in partnership with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces which is allied with the US.

It added that “an explosion on target resulted in four US service members and one working dog wounded.” It did not say in which part of northeast Syria the raid was conducted.

It identified the killed ISIS commander as Hamza al-Homsi.

Despite their defeat in Syria in March 2019, ISIS sleeper cells still conduct attacks around Syria and Iraq where they once declared a “caliphate.”

Joint operations between the US military and SDF fighters are common in northeast and eastern Syria along the border with Iraq.

The statement said the service members and working dog are receiving treatment in a US medical facility in neighboring Iraq.

The US military killed two ISIS leaders in Syria over the past few years.

In February 2021, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, was killed in a US raid in northwest Syria. ISIS founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was hunted down by the Americans in a raid in October 2019.

In October, the leader of ISIS, Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, was killed in battle with Syrian opposition fighters in southern Syria.



Israeli Strikes Kill 12 in Lebanon, including 5 Hezbollah Fighters

Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.
Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.
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Israeli Strikes Kill 12 in Lebanon, including 5 Hezbollah Fighters

Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.
Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.

Heavy Israeli airstrikes killed 12 people, including five Hezbollah fighters, in eastern Lebanon on Tuesday, a security source in Lebanon said, in what Israel said was a warning to the Iran-backed group against trying to re-establish itself.

The Israeli military said the airstrikes targeted training camps used by elite Hezbollah fighters and warehouses it used to store weapons in the Bekaa Valley region of eastern Lebanon.

The airstrikes were the deadliest on the area since a US-brokered ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel last November. Bachir Khodr, governor of the Bekaa region, said seven of the dead were Syrian nationals.

Israel dealt Hezbollah heavy blows in last year's conflict, killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah along with other commanders and destroying much of its arsenal.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday's strikes sent a "clear message" to Hezbollah, accusing it of planning to rebuild the capability to raid Israel through the elite Radwan force, Reuters reported.

Israel "will respond with maximum force to any attempt at rebuilding", he said. He added that strikes were also a message to the Lebanese government, saying it was responsible for upholding the ceasefire agreement.

There was no immediate public response from Hezbollah or from the Lebanese government to the latest Israeli strikes.

The United States has submitted a proposal to the Lebanese government aimed at securing Hezbollah's disarmament within four months in exchange for Israel halting airstrikes and withdrawing troops from positions they still hold in south Lebanon.

Under the terms of the ceasefire brokered by the US and France, Lebanon's armed forces were to confiscate "all unauthorized arms", beginning in the area south of the Litani River - the zone closest to Israel.