US raid inside eastern Syria kills 32 ISIL terrorists

A US raid in eastern Syria has killed 32 members of the ISIL terrorist group, including four of its leaders, sources say.

 The operation was launched by US by US Special Operations forces in Deir ez-Zor province, without coordination with the Syrian government, on Friday night that continued into Saturday morning.

US officials said on Saturday "about a dozen" people were killed in the operation, but a Britain-based monitoring group revealed on Sunday that at least 32 ISIL terrorists were killed.  

"The US operation killed 32 members of ISIL, among them four officials, including ISIL oil chief Abu Sayyaf, the deputy ISIL defense minister, and an ISIL communications official," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of spies inside Syria working for the foreign-backed Syrian opposition.

US troops also arrested Abu Sayaf's wife who allegedly played a key role in ISIL activities. The woman was reportedly taken to an unknown detention center in Iraq.

The US forces slipped into Syria from Iraq upon direct orders from President Barack Obama. Syria said they did so without notifying Damascus.

An American military with knowledge of details of the raid said a team of Delta Force commandos entered Syria from Iraq under cover of darkness aboard Black Hawk helicopters and V-22 Osprey aircraft, which take off and land like helicopters and cruise like planes. 

Abu Sayyaf and his men put up stiff resistance and even fired at their aircraft, causing bullet-hole damage to Osprey, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the raid details.

"The operation represents another significant blow to ISIL, and it is a reminder that the United States will never waver in denying safe haven to terrorists who threaten our citizens, and those of our friends and allies," US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said in a statement.

The ISIL terrorists, who were initially trained by the CIA in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize the Syrian government, now control large parts of Iraq and Syria.

Since late September, the US and some of its Arab allies have been carrying out airstrikes against ISIL inside Syria without any authorization from Damascus or a UN mandate.

Apparently, this was first time since the US had started bombing ISIL positions that American troops slipped into Syria and carried out a raid against militants.

GJH/GJH

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