US kills two ISIS operatives in east Syria strike
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - At least two Islamic State (ISIS) operatives were killed in a “precision” American airstrike on Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor province, the US army said on Tuesday, and a truckload of weapons was destroyed.
“The terrorists were moving a truckload of weapons which were destroyed during the strike. This strike occurred in an area formerly controlled by the Syrian regime and Russians,” the army’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.
Two ISIS members were killed and another was injured in the airstrike.
Parts of Deir ez-Zor had been under the control of Bashar al-Assad’s former Syrian regime and pro-Iran militia groups until the regime was toppled by rebels on December 8.
Rebel groups have moved into these areas once occupied by the regime, while the oil-rich north of the province remains under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which Washington backs.
ISIS has exploited a security vacuum in parts of the province, which has vast deserts. The US army and its allied SDF have carried out numerous ground and aerial raids against the group there.
The jihadists swept through large swathes of Syria in 2014 and were territorially defeated in 2019, but bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions attributed to the group are common.
On Thursday, the Pentagon announced that there are nearly 2,000 US troops currently stationed in Syria, more than double of earlier official numbers.
“We have been briefing you regularly that there are approximately 900 US troops deployed to Syria… We recently learned that those numbers were higher and so asked to look into it. I learned today that in fact there are approximately 2,000 US troops in Syria,” Pentagon spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder said during a press briefing.
“The terrorists were moving a truckload of weapons which were destroyed during the strike. This strike occurred in an area formerly controlled by the Syrian regime and Russians,” the army’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.
Two ISIS members were killed and another was injured in the airstrike.
Parts of Deir ez-Zor had been under the control of Bashar al-Assad’s former Syrian regime and pro-Iran militia groups until the regime was toppled by rebels on December 8.
Rebel groups have moved into these areas once occupied by the regime, while the oil-rich north of the province remains under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which Washington backs.
ISIS has exploited a security vacuum in parts of the province, which has vast deserts. The US army and its allied SDF have carried out numerous ground and aerial raids against the group there.
The jihadists swept through large swathes of Syria in 2014 and were territorially defeated in 2019, but bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions attributed to the group are common.
On Thursday, the Pentagon announced that there are nearly 2,000 US troops currently stationed in Syria, more than double of earlier official numbers.
“We have been briefing you regularly that there are approximately 900 US troops deployed to Syria… We recently learned that those numbers were higher and so asked to look into it. I learned today that in fact there are approximately 2,000 US troops in Syria,” Pentagon spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder said during a press briefing.