Senior ISIS leader captured in Syria
U.S.-led coalition forces seized a man described by officials as a senior leader of Islamic State in an operation in northeast Syria late Wednesday. Military forces detained Hani Ahmed al-Kurdi, assessed to be a bomb maker and facilitator who had become one of Islamic State’s senior leaders in Syria, U.S. military officials said. “The mission was meticulously planned to minimize the risk of collateral damage, particularly any potential harm to civilians,” Operation Inherent Resolve, the command that oversees operations against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, said in a statement.
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During the operation, two Russian Su-34 jet fighters appeared near the scene, officials said, but they couldn’t provide any other details about how close or at what point during the operation they flew over.
The two jets moved away quickly, one official said, after two American F-16 jet fighters responded to the skies over the raid site. Russian forces operate in northern Syria, and U.S. and Russian military officials regularly coordinate with each other to avoid inadvertent collisions.
It was the first known operation of any significance since the U.S. conducted a raid in February against Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, considered at the time to be the leader of Islamic State in Syria. Qurayshi detonated a bomb when U.S. forces arrived, killing himself and members of his family in the complex.
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It is unclear why Russia would be offering air support to ISIS, but the Russian jets did back off pretty quickly.
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