US special forces killed a senior Islamic State group leader in a raid in eastern Syria, the White House said Saturday, as jihadists closed in on Syria's ancient Palmyra and Ramadi in Iraq.
President Barack Obama ordered the raid on Al-Omar in east Syria on Friday night to capture senior IS leader Abu Sayyaf and his wife Umm Sayyaf, US officials said.
The bold operation, with elite commandos striking at IS's inner circle, was a rare use of "boots on the ground" by the United States, which has fought the jihadists almost entirely from the air.
"During the course of the operation, Abu Sayyaf was killed when he engaged US forces," White House national security spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said.
Abu Sayyaf played a senior role in IS's lucrative oil and gas operations, and his wife -- suspected of being involved in "terrorist activities" -- was put under military detention in Iraq, Meehan said.
Al-Omar, one of the largest oil fields in Syria, lies in oil-rich Deir Ezzor province. Like much of Deir Ezzor, Al-Omar remains under IS control.
US Secretary of Defence Ash Carter said the operation was a "significant blow" to IS.
A young Yazidi woman who was apparently being held as a slave by the couple was also freed by US forces.
Meehan said that US forces based out of Iraq had conducted the raid "with the full consent" of Iraqi authorities.
US forces suffered no casualties in the operation, American officials said, without giving details on the number of troops involved or their units.
US commandos staged a raid in Syria last year to rescue an American journalist held hostage by the IS, James Foley. But the operation failed, as Foley and other hostages had been moved by the time the US forces arrived.
- Palmyra under threat -
In central Syria, the jihadists inched ever closer to the ancient majestic city of Palmyra, whose colonnaded streets and elaborate tombs have been under threat by an IS offensive since Wednesday.
The world heritage site lies at the gateway to Syria's vast desert, extending to IS-controlled territory in neighbouring Iraq.
IS has been battling Syrian government troops on the edges of the city, amid heavy shellfire and regime bombardment by air, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
Government positions to Palmyra's southwest -- where the artefacts and ruins are located -- held firm at one kilometre (less than a mile) from the city's old Islamic citadel.
The monitoring group said IS had made gains to the city's east on Saturday morning, after having executed at least 49 civilians, including nine children, in 48 hours.
If Palmyra falls, IS would expand its control from Syria's east and north to the country's heartland.
The city is also key to IS's propaganda machine, as the group has destroyed numerous pre-Islamic archeological sites during its rampage across Iraq and Syria.
Fearing a similar fate for Palmyra, known as the "pearl of the desert," UNESCO has called on the UN Security Council to act in order to save one of the Middle East's historic treasures.
Both Syria's opposition and regime have demanded that the renowned site not fall to the jihadists.
- Reinforcements to Ramadi -
In neighbouring Iraq, IS fighters tightened their siege on the last government positions in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, a day after they seized the city's government headquarters.
Taking control of Ramadi would constitute the group's most important victory this year in Iraq, and would give the jihadists control of the capitals of two of its largest provinces.
Mosul, capital of Nineveh province, has been under IS control since the jihadists launched a lightning offensive in June 2014.
Anbar province, of which Ramadi is the capital, extends from the Syrian, Jordanian, and Saudi borders to the gates of Baghdad.
Military reinforcements have been sent to Ramadi and other parts of Anbar to support Iraqi troops, local officials said, as Iraq's army and the US-led coalition struck IS positions in the area.
Most of the Iraqi government forces and Sunni tribesmen fighting alongside them are concentrated in a nearby military base and in the Anbar Operations Command across the Euphrates river.
US special forces killed a senior Islamic State group leader in a raid in eastern Syria, the White House said Saturday, as jihadists closed in on Syria’s ancient Palmyra and Ramadi in Iraq.
President Barack Obama ordered the raid on Al-Omar in east Syria on Friday night to capture senior IS leader Abu Sayyaf and his wife Umm Sayyaf, US officials said.
The bold operation, with elite commandos striking at IS’s inner circle, was a rare use of “boots on the ground” by the United States, which has fought the jihadists almost entirely from the air.
“During the course of the operation, Abu Sayyaf was killed when he engaged US forces,” White House national security spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said.
Abu Sayyaf played a senior role in IS’s lucrative oil and gas operations, and his wife — suspected of being involved in “terrorist activities” — was put under military detention in Iraq, Meehan said.
Al-Omar, one of the largest oil fields in Syria, lies in oil-rich Deir Ezzor province. Like much of Deir Ezzor, Al-Omar remains under IS control.
US Secretary of Defence Ash Carter said the operation was a “significant blow” to IS.
A young Yazidi woman who was apparently being held as a slave by the couple was also freed by US forces.
Meehan said that US forces based out of Iraq had conducted the raid “with the full consent” of Iraqi authorities.
US forces suffered no casualties in the operation, American officials said, without giving details on the number of troops involved or their units.
US commandos staged a raid in Syria last year to rescue an American journalist held hostage by the IS, James Foley. But the operation failed, as Foley and other hostages had been moved by the time the US forces arrived.
– Palmyra under threat –
In central Syria, the jihadists inched ever closer to the ancient majestic city of Palmyra, whose colonnaded streets and elaborate tombs have been under threat by an IS offensive since Wednesday.
The world heritage site lies at the gateway to Syria’s vast desert, extending to IS-controlled territory in neighbouring Iraq.
IS has been battling Syrian government troops on the edges of the city, amid heavy shellfire and regime bombardment by air, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
Government positions to Palmyra’s southwest — where the artefacts and ruins are located — held firm at one kilometre (less than a mile) from the city’s old Islamic citadel.
The monitoring group said IS had made gains to the city’s east on Saturday morning, after having executed at least 49 civilians, including nine children, in 48 hours.
If Palmyra falls, IS would expand its control from Syria’s east and north to the country’s heartland.
The city is also key to IS’s propaganda machine, as the group has destroyed numerous pre-Islamic archeological sites during its rampage across Iraq and Syria.
Fearing a similar fate for Palmyra, known as the “pearl of the desert,” UNESCO has called on the UN Security Council to act in order to save one of the Middle East’s historic treasures.
Both Syria’s opposition and regime have demanded that the renowned site not fall to the jihadists.
– Reinforcements to Ramadi –
In neighbouring Iraq, IS fighters tightened their siege on the last government positions in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, a day after they seized the city’s government headquarters.
Taking control of Ramadi would constitute the group’s most important victory this year in Iraq, and would give the jihadists control of the capitals of two of its largest provinces.
Mosul, capital of Nineveh province, has been under IS control since the jihadists launched a lightning offensive in June 2014.
Anbar province, of which Ramadi is the capital, extends from the Syrian, Jordanian, and Saudi borders to the gates of Baghdad.
Military reinforcements have been sent to Ramadi and other parts of Anbar to support Iraqi troops, local officials said, as Iraq’s army and the US-led coalition struck IS positions in the area.
Most of the Iraqi government forces and Sunni tribesmen fighting alongside them are concentrated in a nearby military base and in the Anbar Operations Command across the Euphrates river.
