ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed Monday evening that a morning helicopter raid in northern Syria killed a senior Islamic State (ISIS) leader, adding that two other ISIS operatives were also killed in the operation. CENTCOM forces “killed Abd al-Hadi Mahmud al-Haji Ali, a senior ISIS Syria leader and operational planner responsible for planning terror attacks in the Middle East and Europe,” the force said. Earlier on Monday, CENTCOM announced that the raid had resulted in the “probable” death of the leader but was unable to provide further details about the operation. “We know ISIS retains the desire to strike beyond the Middle East,” CENTCOM spokesperson Joe Buccino said. “We are therefore committed to the enduring defeat of ISIS.” According to the US force, the raid was conducted after intelligence revealed that the terror group planned to abduct officials abroad as bargaining chips for their initiatives. ISIS rose to power across swathes of Syria in 2014 but it was territorially defeated five years later. Despite the group being devoid of any territorial control, it continues to pose security risks through kidnappings, hit-and-run attacks, and bombings in the war-torn country. About a thousand US troops stationed in Syria are part of an international coalition that has mostly fought alongside the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) since 2014 to ensure the lasting defeat of ISIS. On Sunday, the coalition announced the arrest of an ISIS operative in Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor province, labeling the operation as a “hindrance” to ISIS activities in the region, after previously announcing the arrest of three ISIS members in eastern Syria on Wednesday.
