Four US Troops Wounded In Operation To Take Out ISIS Leader

An explosion wounded four U.S. Army troops and a working dog during an operation that resulted in the death of a senior Islamic State leader, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement Friday.

A helicopter raid Thursday evening, conducted with Syrian Democratic Forces partner militia in northeastern Syria, killed Hamza al-Homsi, whose role CENTCOM did not specify but served in a senior position in the ISIS terrorist organization, according to a statement. The injured servicemembers and military working dog are receiving treatment at a medical facility in Iraq, the statement said.

“An explosion on target resulted in four U.S. servicemembers and one working dog wounded,” CENTCOM said, adding that the targeted leader was killed.

CENTCOM did not specify the cause of the explosion or when during the raid it took place.

The roughly 900 U.S. forces remaining in Syria have continued to strike at ISIS militants, usually in concert with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), according to Politico.

In a Feb. 10 raid, coalition forces killed Ibrahim Al Qahtani, a senior ISIS leader who helped execute prison breaks of militants sympathetic to the terrorist organization in Syria.

U.S. forces in Syria captured two ISIS militants during a raid conducted jointly with an unnamed Syrian resistance group in late January.

“ISIS represents a threat to our partners and to the people of Iraq and Syria and beyond,” CENTCOM spokesperson Col. Joe Buccino said in a statement after the raid. “Our mission to defeat ISIS alongside our [SDF] partners continues.”

ISIS named a new commander in December after former leader Abu al-Hassan al-Hashemi al-Quraishi blew himself up during a siege that did not involve the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition forces, Reuters reported.

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