DUMAYR, Syria — A raid by U.S. forces and a neighborhood Syrian group aiming to seize an Islamic State group official as an alternative killed a person who had been working undercover gathering intelligence on the extremists, relations and Syrian officers have informed The Related Press.
The killing in October underscores the complicated political and safety panorama as the USA begins working with interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa within the combat in opposition to remnants of IS.
In response to family members, Khaled al-Masoud had been spying on IS for years on behalf of the insurgents led by al-Sharaa after which for al-Sharaa’s interim authorities, established after the fall of former President Bashar Assad a yr in the past. Al-Sharaa’s insurgents have been primarily Islamists, some related to al-Qaida, however enemies of IS who typically clashed with it over the previous decade.
Neither U.S. nor Syrian authorities officers have commented on al-Masoud’s loss of life, a sign that neither aspect desires the incident to derail bettering ties. Weeks after the Oct. 19 raid, al-Sharaa visited Washington and introduced Syria would be a part of the worldwide coalition in opposition to IS.
Nonetheless, al-Masoud’s loss of life may very well be “fairly a setback” for efforts to fight IS, mentioned Wassim Nasr, a senior analysis fellow with the Soufan Middle, a New York-based assume tank targeted on safety points.
Al-Masoud had been infiltrating IS within the southern deserts of Syria often known as the Badiya, one of many locations the place remnants of the extremist group have remained energetic, Nasr mentioned.
The raid focusing on him was a results of “the dearth of coordination between the coalition and Damascus,” Nasr mentioned.
Within the newest signal of the rising cooperation, the U.S. Central Command mentioned Sunday that American troops and forces from Syria’s Inside Ministry had positioned and destroyed 15 IS weapons caches within the south.
The raid occurred in Dumayr, a city east of Damascus on the sting of the desert. At round 3 a.m., residents woke to the sound of heavy automobiles and planes.
Residents mentioned U.S. troops carried out the raid alongside the Syrian Free Military, a U.S.-trained opposition faction that had fought in opposition to Assad. The SFA now formally experiences to the Syrian Protection Ministry.
Al-Masoud’s cousin, Abdel Kareem Masoud, mentioned he opened his door and noticed Humvees with U.S. flags on them.
“There was somebody on high of one in all them who spoke damaged Arabic, who pointed a machine gun at us and a inexperienced laser gentle and informed us to return inside,” he mentioned.
Khaled al-Masoud’s mom, Sabah al-Sheikh al-Kilani, mentioned the forces then surrounded her son’s home subsequent door, the place he was along with his spouse and 5 daughters, and banged on the door.
Al-Masoud informed them that he was with Common Safety, a power beneath Syria’s Inside Ministry, however they broke down the door and shot him, al-Kilani mentioned.
They took him away, wounded, al-Kilani mentioned. Later, authorities safety officers informed the household he had been launched however was within the hospital. The household was then known as to choose up his physique. It was unclear when he had died.
“How did he die? We don’t know,” his mom mentioned. “I need the individuals who took him from his youngsters to be held accountable.”
Al-Masoud’s household believes he was focused primarily based on defective intelligence offered by members of the Syrian Free Military.
Representatives of the SFA didn’t reply to requests for remark.
Al-Masoud had labored with al-Sharaa’s rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, in its northwestern enclave of Idlib earlier than Assad’s fall, his cousin mentioned. Then he returned to Dumayr and labored with the safety companies of al-Sharaa’s authorities.
Two Syrian safety officers and one political official, who spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t approved to remark publicly, confirmed that al-Masoud had been working with Syria’s interim authorities in a safety function. Two of the officers mentioned he had labored on combating IS.
Preliminary media experiences on the raid mentioned it had captured an IS official. However U.S. Central Command, which generally points statements when a U.S. operation kills or captures a member of the extremist group in Syria, made no announcement.
A U.S. protection official, when requested for extra details about the raid and its goal and whether or not it had been coordinated with Syria’s authorities, mentioned, “We’re conscious of those experiences however would not have any info to supply.” The official spoke on situation of anonymity in accordance with laws.
Representatives of Syria’s protection and inside ministries, and of U.S. envoy to Syria Tom Barrack, declined to remark.
At its peak in 2015, IS managed a swath of territory throughout Iraq and Syria half the scale of the UK. It was infamous for its brutality in opposition to spiritual minorities in addition to Muslims not adhering to the group’s excessive interpretation of Islam.
After years of combating, the U.S.-led coalition broke the group’s final maintain on territory in late 2019. Since then, U.S. troops in Syria have been working to make sure IS doesn’t regain a foothold. The U.S. estimates IS nonetheless has about 2,500 members in Syria and Iraq. U.S. Central Command final month mentioned the variety of IS assaults there had fallen to 375 for the yr up to now, in comparison with 1,038 final yr.
Fewer than 1,000 U.S. troops are believed to be working in Syria, finishing up airstrikes and conducting raids in opposition to IS cells. They work primarily alongside the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces within the northeast and the Syrian Free Military within the south.
Now the U.S. has one other accomplice: the safety forces of the brand new Syrian authorities.
Airwars, a London-based battle monitor, has reported 52 incidents through which civilians have been harmed or killed in coalition operations in Syria since 2020.
The group categorized al-Masoud as a civilian.
Airwars director Emily Tripp mentioned the group has seen “a number of situations of what the U.S. name ‘errors,’” together with a 2023 case through which the U.S. army introduced it had killed an al-Qaida chief in a drone strike. The goal later turned out to be a civilian farmer.
It was unclear if the Oct. 19 raid went fallacious as a result of defective intelligence or if somebody intentionally fed the coalition false info. Nasr mentioned that previously, feuding teams have typically used the coalition to settle scores.
“That’s the entire level of getting a hotline with Damascus, as a way to see who’s who on the bottom,” he mentioned.
