US forces capture Islamic State official in Syria after helicopter raid

US forces captured an Islamic State official, identified as Abu Halil al-Fad'ani, after conducting a helicopter raid in northern Syria on Saturday, the US Central Command said on Monday (Sep 25).

"Abu Halil al-Fad'ani, an ISIS Syria Operational and Facilitation official, was captured during the raid," it said in a statement.

"Al-Fad'ani was assessed to have relationships throughout the ISIS network in the region."

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"The capture of ISIS officials like al-Fad'ani increases our ability to locate, target, and remove terrorists from the battlefield,"said the Central Command spokesperson Troy Garlock.

"USCENTCOM remains committed to the enduring defeat of ISIS," Reuters news agency quoted him as saying.

This comes amid the US-backed Kurdish-led forces imposed a curfew after continued skirmishes with rival Arab militiamen.

Citing media reports and activists, The Associated Press reported that the Syrian Democratic Forces imposed the curfew Monday in several towns in Deir el-Zour province, including in Ziban, close to the Iraqi border where the Americans are based.

CNN reported that CENTCOM forces and coalition partners conducted eight partner operations in Syria in August.

CENTCOM said that in those operations, seven ISIS operatives were detained and an eighth was killed.

In Iraq, 18 operatives were detained and six were killed throughout operations in August in Iraq.

The report added that another ISIS operative, an "ISIS attack facilitator", identified as Hudayfah al Yemeni, and two of his associates were captured in a helicopter raid in Syria in April.

The US has approximately 900 troops in Syria, who are focused on countering the remnants of the ISIS group, which had held a wide swath of Syria until 2019.

(With inputs from agencies)

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