US raid aimed at Islamic State member allegedly killed Syrian undercover agent

The US forces killed an individual working in their favour as an undercover agent to gather intelligence on the Islamic State (IS) in Syria. A joint operation launched by the US forces and a local Syrian group was targeted at capturing an extremist working for the Jihadist organisation fatally struck Khaled al Masud in October, who was carrying out spying operations on behalf of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa's interim government.

As per family and relatives, Al Masud has worked for years passing off information on the Islamic State to Ahamad al-Shara-led insurgent group and later to the interim government headed by al-Shara, as reported by The Associated Press.

The killing reflects the complex political and security environment in war-torn Syria, as Washington is leading its effort to fight the remnants of IS along with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

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According to the local residents, the raid took place around 3 AM on October 29 in Dumayar, a town east of the Syrian Capital Damascus. The US forces conducted the operation alongside the Syrian Free Army, a group trained by the United States and fought against Former President Bashar al-Assad. The SFA was incorporated by the interim government formed after the ouster of Assad and now reports to the Syrian Defence Ministry.

Al-Masoud’s family believes he was targeted due to faulty intelligence from Syrian Free Army members. According to his cousin, Al-Masoud had previously worked with Ahmad al-Sharaa’s insurgent group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, in the northwestern Idlib region before Assad’s fall.

Both the United States and Syria refrained from commenting on the death of Al-Masoud, signalling the warming of ties and that no side wants the incident to have a detrimental effect on the relationship. Weeks after the October 19 operation, Al-Sharra visited Washington and announced that Syria would join the US-led coalition against the IS.

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Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has met US President Donald Trump twice in the recent past, including a meeting between the two in the White House in November. However, before taking over the interim government, Al-Shara had a US bounty on his head. He was a shadowy figure linked to several militant groups and spent years moving through extremist networks