WASHINGTON
U.S. Special Forces killed an alleged senior Daesh commander during a raid aimed to capture him in Syria, U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said Saturday.
“Last night, at the direction of the commander-in-chief, I ordered U.S. special operations forces to conduct an operation in al-Amr in eastern Syria to capture an ISIL (Daesh) senior leader known as Abu Sayyaf and his wife Umm Sayyaf,” Carter said in a statement.
According to the statement, Sayyaf was killed “during the course of the operation when he engaged U.S. forces.”
Carter also said that during the operation, no U.S. forces were killed or injured.
President Barack Obama authorized the operation late Friday night.
The woman known as Umm Sayyaf was captured and is currently at a military detention in Iraq, National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria said that the U.S. had launched a ground offensive against Daesh in al-Omar oil fields in eastern Syria.
“Coalition forces dropped many paratroops soldiers on al-Omar oil fields. There were also trained dogs with the soldiers. Clashes took place between the soldiers and Daesh for 20 minutes. Eight Daesh members were killed, including two senior members,” the group said.
The Local Coordination Committees of Syria are groups of local Syrian activists who oppose the Assad regime and publish news via social media websites.
