U.S. Forces Seize ‘Digital Trove’ and Kill ISIS Leader in Syria Raid

A raid by U.S. special forces in Syria killed a man identified as a senior Islamic State leader and secured intelligence on how the group operates, communicates and earns money, the Washington Post reports.

“We discovered a treasure trove of electronic information, and documents and records relating to the organizational structure of ISIS, which will help us long term in taking out the command and control structure,” Michael McCaul, chair of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, told Fox News.

The White House reported that President Barack Obama ordered the mission that killed the ISIS commander, identified by his nom de guerre Abu Sayyaf, who is thought have led the jihadist group’s oil operations.

“Abu Sayyaf was a senior ISIL leader who, among other things, had a senior role in overseeing ISIL’s illicit oil and gas operations – a key source of revenue that enables the terrorist organization to carry out their brutal tactics and oppress thousands of innocent civilians,” National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said in a statement. “He was also involved with the group’s military operations,” she added.

The United States is leading a coalition in a military campaign against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, but President Obama has made it clear that the U.S. will not enter either of those countries in a ground combat role.

Many of the U.S.-led airstrikes in Syria have targeted oil and gas refinery and storage sites, which is reportedly a significant source of revenue for the group.

This raid was the first declared special forces operation by U.S. forces on the ground in Syria since their unsuccessful mission last summer to rescue a number of American hostages held by Islamic State.

U.S. officials said Abu Sayyaf’s wife was also captured in the raid and a young woman from the Yazidi religious minority who was being held by the couple as a slave was rescued.

Meehan confirmed that the U.S. did not coordinate with nor advise Syria in advance of the operation.

“We have warned the Assad regime not to interfere with our ongoing efforts against ISIL inside of Syria,” she said, adding that the “brutal actions of the regime have aided and abetted the rise of ISIL and other extremists in Syria.”

At least 32 Islamic State members, including four senior officials, were killed in the raid and accompanying airstrikes, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

Hezbollah Leader Claims Gains on Lebanon-Syria Border

Hezbollah’s chief said on Saturday that his Shiite group had pushed Syrian opposition fighters out of large areas of Syria’s Qalamoun region along the Lebanese-Syrian border but the battle was not over, AFP reports.

Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech on Saturday that the battle in the mountainous area was “ongoing in terms of time and place,” but that Hezbollah had dealt “resounding defeats” to Sunni extremists there.

Hezbollah and the Syrian regime have “kicked out the armed groups from the battlefield, retaking control of 300km (nearly 200 miles) of territory,” Nasrallah said.

Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shiite militant group and key ally of President Bashar al-Assad, has sent hundreds of fighters into Syria to assist government forces in the four-year conflict and has played a key role in the battle for Qalamoun.

The mountainous area of Qalamoun is close to Syria’s capital, Damascus, and links it to the coastal heartland of President Assad’s Alawite sect.

Jihadist militants who are entrenched there – including Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS – have continued to launch offensives inside Lebanon, notably an attack in August 2014 in which fighters from Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State group briefly seized the eastern Lebanese town of Arsal and kidnapped several dozen members of the Lebanese security forces.

Meanwhile, Islamic State militants have allegedly been pushed back from the ancient Syrian site of Palmyra, the BBC reports.

On Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that ISIS was mounting an assault on Tadmur, a town next to the ruins of Palmyra.

Palmyra, one of the most important cultural sites of the ancient world, is strategically located on the road between the capital Damascus and the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, and is close to gas fields.

Turkey Claims it Shot Down Syrian Helicopter That Violated its Airspace

Turkey claims it shot down a helicopter on Saturday after it crossed into Turkish airspace, the country’s defense minister said on the same day. Syrian state-run television denied the report, claiming that a small drone was shot down, AP reports.

Turkish defense minister Ismet Yilmaz told the state-run Anadolu Agency that the helicopter was brought down on Saturday after it breached a stretch of the border in the Cilvegozu district, near the southern Turkish city of Reyhanli. The helicopter had gone seven miles into Turkey and had been in Turkish airspace for five minutes before it was shot down, officials said.

The Turkish prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said that the helicopter was given a warning, but was shot down after it continued to breach Turkey’s airspace.

“Whoever violates Turkish borders, for whatever reason, either from land or air, will face retaliation and will be punished, regardless of who it is,” Mr. Davutoglu said in Ankara.

“The strike marks the third time Turkey has downed a Syrian aircraft since Ankara tightened engagement rules after June 2012, when Damascus shot down a Turkish reconnaissance jet over the Mediterranean. Turkish jets brought down a Syrian helicopter in September 2013 and a MIG-23 fighter in March of last year,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Turkey, a NATO member, has been vocal about its determination to oust President Bashar al-Assad and is backing rebels trying to remove him from power, while its NATO allies have focused primarily on first defeating extremist terrorists in Syria and Iraq – namely, the Islamic State.

Recommended Reads

• The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Forces Seize Digital Trove in Syria Raid
• The New York Times: Hezbollah Deploys Weapon, a Press Tour, on the Syrian Front
• Deutsche Welle: Obama: War in Syria Will Not End Before I Leave Office
• NPR: U.N. Appeals to Syria’s Warring Groups to Spare Ancient City of Palmyra

Photo Courtesy of AP Images