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The White House reports that a senior leader of ISIS was killed Friday night during an operation in eastern Syria.
The operation was authorized by President Barack Obama and involved U.S. personnel based out of Iraq attempting to capture senior leader Abu Sayyaf and his wife Umm Sayyaf. The White House says that Abu Sayyaf was killed when he engaged U.S. forces.
His wife Umm Sayyaf was captured and is in U.S. military detention in Iraq. This operation also freed a young Yezidi woman whom the White House says seemed to have been a slave of the couple. “We intend to reunite her with her family as soon as feasible,” says the White House statement.
Apparently no U.S. personnel were killed or injured in the operation.
The White House says Abu Sayyaf was a senior ISIS leader who oversaw their oil and gas operations and was also involved in the military operations. The U.S. suspects Umm Sayyaf is a member of ISIS, played an important role in their terrorist activities, and may have been complicit in the enslavement of the young woman.
Stock photo of U.S. Special Forces. (Photo Credit: U.S. Army)
“The President authorized this operation upon the unanimous recommendation of his national security team and as soon as we had developed sufficient intelligence and were confident the mission could be carried out successfully and consistent with the requirements for undertaking such operations,” reads the statement from the White House. “This operation was conducted with the full consent of Iraqi authorities and, like our existing airstrikes against ISIL in Syria, consistent with domestic and international law.”
Now, the White House says that they are “working to determine an ultimate disposition for the detainee that best supports the national security of the United States and of our allies and partners, consistent with domestic and international law.”
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