Middle East
US and Syrian forces capture an ISIS leader, CENTCOM says
Stars and Stripes
September 2, 2024
U.S. forces joined with Syrian troops to capture an ISIS leader early Sunday, U.S. Central Command announced Monday.
CENTCOM troops and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) captured Khaled Ahmed al-Dandal, an ISIS facilitator who helped escapees of the terror group after they fled a detention facility in Syria, CENTCOM said.
Previously, on Aug. 29, five ISIS Foreign Terrorist Fighter detainees escaped from the Raqqah Detention Facility. SDF recaptured two escapees: Imam Abdulwahed Akhwan (Russian) and Muhammad Noh Muhammad (Libyan). The search continues for the three who remain at large: Timor Talbrken Abdash (Russian) and Shuab Muhammad Al-Abdli and Atal Khaled Zar (both Afghans).
“Over 9,000 ISIS detainees remain in over 20 SDF detention facilities in Syria, a literal and figurative ‘ISIS Army’ in detention,” CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla said. “If a large number of these ISIS fighters escaped, it would pose an extreme danger to the region and beyond. We will continue to work with the international community to repatriate these ISIS fighters to their countries of origin for final adjudication.”
A primary objective of ISIS remains to free their fighters currently held in detention and subsequently fuel an ISIS revival. The mission for U.S. forces, in coordination with SDF, will be to mitigate threats of future escapes and to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS, CENTCOM says.
Sunday’s action comes only days after a raid against ISIS that killed at least 15 people and left seven American troops hurt. CENTCOM said the militants were armed with “numerous weapons, grenades, and explosive ‘suicide’ belts” during the raid Thursday, which Iraqi forces said happened in the country’s Anbar Desert.
Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s top spokesman, said Tuesday that five of the injured American troops had minor injuries and have returned to duty. The other two service members are in stable condition at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.
In the first six months of this year, ISIS claimed 153 attacks in Iraq and Syria and is “attempting to reconstitute following several years of decreased capability,” CENTCOM announced in July.
There are about 2,500 U.S. troops in Iraq housed at three bases, one in Baghdad and two others in west and north of the country. About 900 American service members are deployed in Syria, Voice of America reported in February.
American forces have remained in the two countries to lead a coalition fighting to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State in a mission known as Operation Inherent Resolve.
(U.S. Central Command)