Pentagon: Four Islamic State fighters killed in nighttime Syria raid
Conflicting accounts of the raid emerged amid renewed scrutiny of the Pentagon's oversight of civilian casualties in Syria.
The Pentagon on Monday said four “armed Daesh (Islamic State [IS]) fighters” were killed in an overnight raid carried out in Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor province.
“Last night, there were two operations conducted in al-Busayrah, Syria. One was a partnered operation with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and the other was a unilateral SDF operation,” Pentagon spokesperson Cmdr. Jessica McNulty told Al-Monitor via email.
“The partnered operation resulted in no detentions and the death of four armed Daesh fighters, one of whom was wearing a suicide vest,” McNulty wrote, adding that the vest was destroyed by coalition forces.
The raid targeted “known Daesh terrorists responsible for facilitation of weapons and fighters to support ISIS attacks. These terrorists attacked an SDF checkpoint on December 10, 2021,” according to the spokesperson.
