Children are feared among the dead after US special forces carried out anti-terror raid in Syria
US special forces carry out large scale anti-terror raid against al-Qaida-linked jihadists at a house in northwest Syria: At least nine dead including women and children after two hour operation
The operation lasted about two hours and resulted in at least nine deathsThe raid targeted a suspected al Qaeda-affiliated jihadist in Atmeh, north SyriaBut local residents and activists said civilians were also among the deadHelicopter strikes reduced a considerable part of a large house to rubbleThe Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strike killed nine people But first responders have reported up to 13 deaths including several children
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U.S. Special Operations forces carried out a large-scale counterterrorism mission in northwest Syria on Thursday, resulting in the deaths of at least nine people.
The raid by the U.S.-led coalition targeted a suspected al Qaeda-affiliated jihadist in a large house in Syria’s northern town of Atmeh, though the identity of the target is not yet clear.
The operation, which residents say lasted about two hours, jolted the sleepy village near the Turkish border – an area dotted with camps for internally displaced people from Syria’s civil war.
The house was surrounded by U.S.-led forces who ordered women and children to evacuate via loudspeakers, before engaging opposition fighters in combat.
Helicopters were then deployed following the ground assault, with several strikes reducing large sections of the house to rubble.
‘The mission was successful. There were no U.S. casualties,’ said Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby in a statement.
But local residents and activists said several civilians were killed in the battle, with pictures emerging of body parts littered amongst the debris following ordnance strikes.
Reports have put the death toll between nine and 13, with more feared trapped under the rubble.
A view of damage after a helicopter fired on a house killing 9 people including children and women during the operation carried out by US-led coalition in Idlib, Syria on February 3, 2022
Syrian civil defense search on February 3, 2022 the scene following an overnight raid by US special operations forces against suspected jihadists in Atme, in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib
The raid by the U.S.-led coalition targeted a suspected al Qaeda-affiliated jihadist in a house in Syria’s northern town of Atmeh. The operation, which residents say lasted about two hours, jolted the sleepy village near the Turkish border – an area dotted with camps for internally displaced people from Syria’s civil war
The operation carried out against an individual suspected to be affiliated with the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group
The target of the raid was a large house, with some parts of the structure completely reduced to rubble while other sections were left with considerable damage
Roofs and walls collapsed, trapping people under the rubble. At least nine people are thought to have died in the blasts
Several residents told Associated Press journalists they saw body parts scattered near the site of the raid, a house in the village of Atmeh in Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province.
They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals following the raid, which they said involved helicopters, explosions and machine-gun fire between ground troops.
It was the largest raid in the province since the 2019 U.S. assault targeting the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Idlib is dominated by the Al-Qaida group and its affiliates, and is home to several top al-Qaida operatives.
But other militants have also found refuge in the region, which is broadly held by Turkey-backed fighters.
The Pentagon provided no details on who was the target of the raid, or if any combatants or civilians on the ground were killed or injured.
But the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the strike killed nine people including two children and a woman, while first responders from the Syrian Civil Defense reported death tolls as high as 13, including six children and four women.
A Syrian man takes a picture of a blood soaked kitchen at the scene of a US anti-terror raid in Atmeh, Idlib
A Syrian youngster stares at the aftermath of a US anti-terror strike in northern Syria
Residents and activists described witnessing a large ground assault, with U.S. forces using loudspeakers urging women and children to leave the area.
There was at least one major explosion. A U.S. official said that one of the helicopters in the raid suffered a mechanical problem and had to be blown up on the ground.
U.S. forces have been known to destroy downed aircraft to prevent technology falling into enemy hands, though others have argued it is a tactic used to destroy evidence.
The U.S. official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the military operation.
The Observatory said troops for the U.S.-led coalition using helicopters landed in the area and attacked a house. It said the force clashed with fighters on the ground.
Taher al-Omar, an Idlib-based activist, also said he witnessed clashes between fighters and the U.S. forces.
The military operation got attention on social media, with tweets from the region describing helicopters firing around the building near Atmeh.
Flight-tracking data also suggested that multiple drones were circling the city of Sarmada and the village of Salwah, just north of the raid’s location.
A general view shows on February 3, 2022 the scene following an overnight raid by US special operations forces against suspected jihadists in Atmeh, in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib which left at least nine people dead, including three civilians
A Syrian man walks on bloodstained floors, February 3, 2022, at the scene following an overnight raid by US special operations forces against suspected jihadists in Syria
Syrian civil defense workers evacuate a body following the overnight raid by US special forces
The clandestine operation came as the Islamic State group was reasserting itself, carrying out some of its biggest attacks since it was defeated in 2019.
In recent weeks and months, the group has launched a series of operations in the region, including a 10-day assault late last month to seize a prison in northeastern Syria.
A U.S.-backed Kurdish-led force said more than 120 of their fighters and prison workers died in the effort to thwart the IS plot, whose goal appeared to free senior IS operatives from the prison. The prison houses at least 3,000 Islamic State group detainees.
The attempted prison break was the biggest military operation by the extremist group since IS was defeated and members scattered to havens in 2019.
The U.S.-led coalition carried out airstrikes and deployed American personnel in Bradley Fighting Vehicles to the prison area to help the Kurdish forces.
At a news conference Monday, an SDF senior official Nowruz Ahmad said the prison assault was part of a broader plot that IS had been preparing for a long time, including attacks on other neighborhoods in Hassakeh, Shaddada and areas of Deir el-Zour in eastern Syria and on the al-Hol camp in the south, which houses thousands of families of IS members.
The U.S.-led coalition has targeted high-profile militants on several occasions in recent years, aiming to disrupt what U.S. officials say is a secretive cell known as the Khorasan group that is planning external attacks.
A U.S. airstrike killed al-Qaida’s second in command, former bin Laden aide Abu al-Kheir al-Masri, in Syria earlier this year.
