Women and children among residents killed in US-led Idlib raid
Survivors of the attack near the town of Atmeh in Idlib described a night of terror and uncertainty, listening to the sound of helicopters and gunshots from the raid that killed IS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi.
IDLIB, Syria — The US Department of Defense has confirmed that US Special Forces carried out a counterterrorism mission in Dayr Balut, northwest Syria, on Feb. 2, killing IS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi.
Charles Lister, director at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, explained on Twitter that the raid lasted for over two hours as the forces clearly wanted to get their target dead or alive. He noted that nothing of this scale has happened since former Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in October 2019.
During the operation, clashes erupted near the town of Atmeh in Idlib on the border with Turkey. Helicopters of the US-led coalition also landed near the Atmeh camps in search of wanted persons whose identities have not yet been revealed.
Locals shared audio recordings attributed to the coalition, in which an Arabic speaker called on women and children to evacuate their homes in the targeted area, while residents also reported hearing shelling and gunshots.
