New York Times: Abu Sayyaf, an ISIS Leader, Killed by Special Forces, U.S. Says
WASHINGTON — American Special Operations forces entered eastern Syria on Friday and killed a senior leader of the Islamic State, according to the Defense Department. The leader, Abu Sayyaf, was involved in the group’s military operations and also helped manage black-market sales of oil and gas to raise money, according to a statement issued by the Pentagon early Saturday.
In the statement, Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said American commandos had entered Syria with a mission to capture Abu Sayyaf and his wife, Umm Sayyaf.
“Abu Sayyaf was killed during the course of the operation when he engaged U.S. forces,” Mr. Carter said.
No American forces were killed or injured in the mission, he said.
WNU Editor: Reading the reports on this raid the line that got my attention was from the Guardian .... Pentagon spokesman tells Guardian: ‘No one’s going to Gitmo’. It appears that the U.S. no longer has a "we take prisoners" policy.
More News On ISIS Commander Abu Sayyaf Killed By U.S. Special Forces in Syria
US commandos kill senior IS commander in Syria raid -- AP
U.S. says its troops killed senior Islamic State leader in Syria raid -- Reuters
US special forces kill Isis commander and capture wife in Syria raid -- The Guardian
Abu Sayyaf, key ISIS figure in Syria, killed in U.S. raid -- CNN
US special forces kill Isil leader in rare raid inside Syria -- The Telegraph
US Special Forces kill top ISIS commander and capture his wife who ran human trafficking network -- Daily Mail
U.S. troops kill senior Islamic State leader in Syrian raid -- UPI
Top ISIS leader killed in raid by U.S. commandos -- Washington Post
U.S. Special Forces Kill Senior ISIS Leader in Syria, Capture His Wife -- WSJ
Islamic State Leader Killed in Syria Raid by U.S. Forces -- Bloomberg
US conducts raid on ISIS in Syria, kills top official -- FOX News
US special forces kill ISIL's Abu Sayyaf in Syria raid -- Al Jazeera
US forces kill IS leader Abu Sayyaf in Syria -- Deutsche Welle
US Military Kill ISIL Commander in Raid On Syrian Territory – Pentagon -- Sputnik
US special forces kill senior ISIS commander in Syria raid - DoD -- RT
U.S. troops kill top ISIL commander in raid inside Syria -- USA Today
U.S. says did not warn Syrian government of Islamic State raid -- Reuters
Carter: Special Operations Troops Conduct Raid in Syria (Statement) -- US Department of Defense
Umm Sayyaf, Abu’s Wife: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know -- Heavy.com
13 comments:
The wait before revealing secret ops has gotten a little short. So now we are also announcing direct military intervention without permission from home governments.
Well at least it was good news for the weekend news cycle and that is a relief.
I agree James. Finally ... some good news in this war.
All depends upon one's view of "good news." While I would agree with you the elimination of an ISIS commander by US special forces is in fact good news much if not most of the world would not. They'd view this as bad news as a significant part of the world, if not most of it, is pulling for America's defeat and this a BIG problem for us. If America is to survive, let alone prosper, we are going to need more support among allies.
I'm confused as to why we didn't just use a drone strike to eliminate this target. Seems like we may be trying to draw attention away from some other issue, maybe the Bin Laden story or possibly something that hasn't come out yet. Still scratching my head as to why we'd want an ISIS prisoner...
The problem with drone strikes is that you don't get the target alive. Nor do you get an opportunity to collect onsite intel, like PC's papers, celphones
Sorry WNU,
But I was being my smart ass self on this one. I'm not happy. These guys need to learn to shut up. Not all of ISIS is starry eyed Western youth, some of these guys are fairly sophisticated operationally and in intelligence, they' keep learning things they shouldn't and people will die. I can understand a pretty good target of opportunity, but damn, soon they'll announce the raids before they happen.
They announced it after they had left .... and this is news that could not have been kept quiet anyway. But it is true ... releasing operational details is stupid .... these ISIS commanders have been fighting wars for most of their lives .... the less information that they have the better for everyone.
Think of all the billable hours lost!
Let's keep in mind what is most important here.
Managing the news cycle, the narrative, is second in importance only to getting elected and exercising power for fun and profit.
And determining the narrative is how you get elected.
James,
MoA has a different take on this event,
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2015/05/was-the-killing-of-the-is-oil-minister-a-combined-syrian-us-operation.html#comments
WNU,
There are many things about this that are puzzling. There are reports of a large number of US combatants involved (as much as 2 reinforced platoons) with Osprey and Helos. With all of that someone had to stand down the Syrian air defense, the US claims it did not notify Assad, did they talk to someone else? Putin, during Kerry's visit and did he relay? Now you're talking about several days here, too much for target of opportunity. My guess is they were after more and bigger fish than who they got and they came from Jordan using the military exercises there to cover their jump. This has gotten away from them and I think they are somewhat at a loss for what to do.
All of this publicity and spin for a guy that we never heard of until yesterday. When this happens something else is up. Unfortunately .... we are not going to know about it for a very long time. But if I was a betting man .... I would say that they were after someone very big .... but he was not there when these special forces guys showed up.
Post a Comment