“Coalition forces arrested a senior ISIS leader during an operation in Syria on June 16,” the US-led International Coalition said in a statement.
“The detainee is estimated to be a professional bomber and mediator who has become one of the organization’s top leaders in Syria,” the statement said.
“The operation did not cause any civilian casualties or damage to the aircraft,” he added.
A Turkish-backed Syrian opposition spokesman told Reuters that the US-led coalition had launched a helicopter landing operation in the opposition-controlled area of northern Syria in the early hours of today.
“The situation is still unclear,” Maj. Yousef Hammoud, a spokesman for the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army, told Reuters.
He noted that the operation, which ended near the village of Al-Humira, a few kilometers from the Turkish border, involved US-made Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters.
This is the first US helicopter landing in Turkish-backed areas controlled by the Syrian National Army, he said.
A source close to the opposition forces in the area said clashes had taken place during the operation.
US-led forces have previously carried out helicopter landings and drone strikes in pro-US Kurdish areas in northern Syria and in western Idlib, which is controlled by al-Qaeda-linked militants.
And US special forces conducted a helicopter landing operation in western Idlib province in February in an area controlled by the extremist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which killed ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi.
Source: Lebanon Debate
