Free Republic

U.S. commandos mounted a rare raid into eastern Syria overnight, killing a senior Islamic State commander in a firefight, capturing his wife and rescuing a Yazidi woman held as a slave, the Pentagon said Saturday. Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced the raid, identifying the militant as Abu Sayyaf. He said no U.S. forces were killed or injured in the operation. A U.S.-led coalition has been striking Islamic State militants in Syria since last year, but this is only the second time troops have carried out a ground raid. A previous operation was aimed at rescuing Americans held hostage by the...

Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced Saturday that U.S. special operations forces conducted a raid in Syria that aimed to capture a senior leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, and his wife. The senior leader, known as Abu Sayyaf, was killed in the overnight operation, Carter said in a statement issued Saturday morning. His wife, Umm Sayyaf, was captured. No U.S. forces were killed or injured during the operation, Carter said. Carter said Abu Sayyaf was involved in ISIS' military and financial operations. Umm Sayyaf is a suspected member of ISIS and "played an important role"...

U.S. Special Operations forces killed a senior ISIS commander during a raid intended to capture him in eastern Syria overnight Friday to Saturday, sources familiar with what happened on the ground in Syria told CNN. The ISIS commander, Abu Sayyaf, who was in charge of ISIS' oil and gas operations and directly and increasingly involved in ISIS command and control, fought capture and was killed in the raid, the sources said.