U.S. Special Forces Raid Syrian Site in Search of Terrorist Leader

The Pentagon did not provide any extra information and facts nor would officials verify the identification of the terrorist chief or whether the individual was killed or captured.

President Biden is expected to handle the navy operation Thursday early morning, U.S. officials reported.

The specific forces, in conjunction with other troops, raided a website in the Atmeh location in Syria’s Idlib province for more than two hrs, reportedly resulting in various deaths and the destruction of some constructions, according to eyewitness accounts filtered through social media. U.S. troops exchanged fire with enemy forces on the ground, in accordance to people social-media experiences.

The documented website of the raid, a constructing, is about 15 miles from the village of Barisha, Syria where by Islamic Point out chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died in October 2019 for the duration of a U.S.-led raid concentrating on him.

The procedure was in the setting up levels for at the very least the earlier many times, U.S. officials said. Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, which is liable for military operations in the Middle East, was expected to appear in human being at a meeting in Washington on Thursday. The firm transformed his participation before this week to virtual remarks, so he could remain at Central Command’s headquarters in Tampa, Fla., in accordance to folks acquainted with the issue. By late Wednesday, the general’s team had pulled him out of the conference completely, according to officials with the Middle East Institute assume tank, wherever he was anticipated to show up.

Charles Lister, a Syria specialist at the Center East Institute, reported that dependent on discussions he experienced experienced with individuals in the area and videos posted on social media the raid began about 1 a.m. nearby time when two or 3 helicopters landed in the Atmeh area—where there are many camps for internally displaced people—and surrounded a residential constructing. Applying a loudspeaker, U.S. troops demanded that women and young children vacate the building, he said.

The goal of the raid would have to be a considerable particular person or folks provided the firepower that U.S. forces introduced to the fight and the challenges concerned, he stated.

The spot of northwest Syria in which the raid took position is nominally underneath the handle of Turkey, but the de facto electric power is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a jihadist group and previous al Qaeda affiliate that is now hostile to both al Qaeda and its rival, Islamic State. Al Qaeda has accused the jihadist team of helping facilitate U.S. drone strikes versus its staff, Mr. Lister mentioned.

Specialists reported it is difficult for the U.S. to disregard the location, provided the teams that operate there.

“It is portion of Syria in which extremist groups are combined in with other elements of the opposition,” reported Andrew Tabler, a former Point out Section official who is now with the Washington Institute for Around East Plan, referring to the Syrian opposition. “It shows that no make a difference how considerably Syria is out of the headlines, the issues stay the very same.”

The Atmeh region, Mr. Tabler said, incorporates a military services foundation that experienced been applied in the earlier by the Totally free Syrian Army and other groups opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It has tough terrain and is adjacent to the Turkish border.

—Michael R. Gordon contributed to this posting.

Create to Gordon Lubold at [email protected], Nancy A. Youssef at [email protected] and Warren P. Strobel at [email protected]