OAN Roy Francis
11:09 AM PT – Friday, February 17, 2023
During a helicopter raid conducted in northeast Syria, four United States service members were injured and a senior ISIS leader was killed on Thursday night.
The four service members wounded by an explosion were all part of the special operations forces that were conducting a raid in cooperation with local Syrian forces targeting an ISIS leader. U.S. Central Command released a statement addressing the raid.
“Last night, during a partnered U.S. and Syrian Democratic Forces helicopter raid in northeastern Syria,” the statement read. “An explosion on target resulted in four U.S. service members and one working dog wounded. The U.S. service members and working dog are receiving treatment in a U.S. medical facility in Iraq.”
One of the service members has already returned to duty, while the other three members are reportedly in stable condition. The working dog is also reported to be in stable condition.
Hamza al-Homsi was the ISIS leader that been targeted and killed during the raid.
There are currently 900 U.S. military members in northeastern Syria working with the Syrian Kurdish Forces, also known as the Syrian Democratic Forces.
There are reportedly around 2,500 troops in Iraq. The mission of the troops still in the area is to partner with local forces to counter the threat of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.
The terrorist group was officially militarily defeated in 2019, but the leaders had gone into hiding and conduct their operations from unknown locations in fear of being targeted by U.S. military forces.
The raid happened only a few days after the U.S. military had shot down an Iranian-made drone that was conducting surveillance above a U.S. patrol base.
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