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.



EU Official: 175 Mn Euro Syria Recovery Package 'Clear Message' of Support

EU Commissioner for Mediterranean Dubravka Suica arrives to attend a College of Commissioners meeting at the EU headquarters in Brussels on May 21, 2025. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)
EU Commissioner for Mediterranean Dubravka Suica arrives to attend a College of Commissioners meeting at the EU headquarters in Brussels on May 21, 2025. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)
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EU Official: 175 Mn Euro Syria Recovery Package 'Clear Message' of Support

EU Commissioner for Mediterranean Dubravka Suica arrives to attend a College of Commissioners meeting at the EU headquarters in Brussels on May 21, 2025. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)
EU Commissioner for Mediterranean Dubravka Suica arrives to attend a College of Commissioners meeting at the EU headquarters in Brussels on May 21, 2025. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)

Visiting EU Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica said Thursday that a 175 million euro package for war-torn Syria was a "clear message" of support for its reconstruction.

Suica announced the package in Damascus Wednesday, saying it would focus on sectors including energy, education, health and agriculture, helping rebuild Syria's economy, support its institutions and promote human rights.

"I came here... with a clear message that we are here to assist and help Syria on its recovery," Suica told AFP in an interview on Thursday.

"We want that reconstruction and recovery will be Syria-owned and Syria-led," she said, on the first visit by an EU commissioner since a transitional government was unveiled in late March.

"We want to see Syria to be a regular, normal, democratic country in the future," she added.

The European Union announced last month it would lift economic sanctions on Syria in a bid to help its recovery.

"This is a pivotal moment -- a new chapter in EU-Syria relations," Suica said on X, calling her meeting with interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa "constructive".

Like Syria's neighbors, Western governments are keen to steer it onto the road to stability after the war triggered an exodus of millions of refugees.

Refugee returns should be "safe, voluntary and dignified", Suica said.

The EU has not designated Syria as a safe country for returns "because we don't want to push people to come here and then they don't have a home", she said.