The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) successfully eliminated an ISIS leader in an operation in Raqqa, the SDF Media Centre announced on Thursday.
The operation, which targeted Ibrahim Al-Ali, also known as Abu Mujahid, a high-ranking ISIS official in Syria’s eastern region, was carried out on 15 August by the counter-terrorism units of the military forces of the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), with the active participation of the Sulaymaniyah-headquartered Counter-Terrorism Group (CTG) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The operation received air surveillance support from the US-led Global Coalition against ISIS forces.
The operation unfolded as the ISIS leader in question steadfastly refused to heed calls to surrender, despite the successful encirclement of his location by coalition-backed forces. This led to a confrontation in which the ISIS leader was neutralised.
A significant cache of weapons and military equipment belonging to ISIS was seized during the operation. Despite suffering defeat in 2019, the extremist group has been recently attempting to make a comeback in various regions of Syria, carrying out deadly attacks.
The SDF expressed its unwavering commitment to persistently pursue and neutralise ISIS officials in various regions of north-eastern Syria, in close partnership with coalition forces.