The international anti-jihadist US-led anti-jihadist coalition announced that its forces captured a leading member of the Islamic State (IS) group[/B] during an operation in Syria in the early hours of today.
The coalition conducts frequent raids and strikes, mainly from the air, against this jihadist group, which despite its defeat on the battlefield three years ago continues to carry out deadly attacks.
"The person arrested is believed to be an experienced bomb maker, a man who facilitated the group's activities and had become one of its top leaders in Syria," according to a statement from the coalition, which assured that no civilians were injured in the operation, nor were any of its aircraft damaged.
The statement did not specify exactly where in Syrian territory the operation took place.
An official of a Syrian anti-government rebel group supported by Turkey told Reuters news agency earlier today that coalition forces, flown in helicopters, had raided the village of al-Humaira, near the Turkish-Syrian border, stressing that it was the first operation of its kind in the area.
Major Youssef Hamoud, a spokesman for the Syrian National Army (SNA), [/B]said that the operation was carried out by special forces men moving in Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters, without going into further details.
"This is the first time that (US) helicopters have landed" in an area controlled by the FSA, he insisted, however.
According to another source in the area, exchanges of fire broke out during the operation.
In February, US Special Forces men, flown by helicopter, raided Idlib province, controlled by Hayat Tahrir let Sham (HQS, the former arm of al-Qaeda in Syria) and killed Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Qurashi, the leader of IS.
Qurasi took over the leadership of IS after the death of the group's founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was killed by detonating explosives, also during a US Special Forces raid, in 2019.
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