Armed men in uniform identified by Syrian Democratic forces as US special operations forces are seen in the village of Fatisah in the northern Syrian province of Raqa on May 25, 2016. © Delil Souleiman / AFP
New York Times: Commando Raids on ISIS Yield Vital Data in Shadowy War
WASHINGTON — One late afternoon in April, helicopter-borne American commandos intercepted a vehicle in southeastern Syria carrying a close associate of the Islamic State’s supreme leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The associate, Abdurakhmon Uzbeki, was a rare prize whom United States Special Operations forces had been tracking for months: a midlevel but highly trusted operative skilled in raising money; spiriting insurgent leaders out of Raqqa, the Islamic State’s besieged capital in Syria; and plotting attacks against the West. Captured alive, Mr. Uzbeki could be an intelligence bonanza. Federal prosecutors had already begun preparing criminal charges against him for possible prosecution in the United States.
As the commandos swooped in, however, a firefight broke out. Mr. Uzbeki, a combat-hardened veteran of shadow wars in Syria and Pakistan, died in the gun battle, thwarting the military’s hopes of extracting from him any information about Islamic State operations, leaders and strategy.
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WNU Editor: This is a major shift away from just launching drone/air strikes to kill ISIS/Al Qaeda leaders .... to now prioritising the retrieval of intelligence by catching them. I would just like to know who is responsible for the captivity of these targets when they are caught .... the Kurds? A U.S. base in Iraq under Iraqi control. Somewhere else?
2 comments:
hopefully they kill them after they are interrogated. we cant keep holding and then releasing these people
Yep, with a blunt blade dipped in pig shit
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