Defense

ISIS officials killed in raid in Syria

FILE - The seal for the U.S. Central Command is displayed on Feb. 6, 2017, at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla. U.S. special operations forces conducted a raid in northeast Syria overnight, killing an Islamic State insurgent who was involved in smuggling weapons and fighters, U.S. officials said Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022. In a statement, U.S. Central Command said the helicopter raid targeted Rakkan Wahid al Shamman, who was known to facilitate the smuggling in support of IS operations. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

A helicopter raid in eastern Syria early Sunday morning killed two members of ISIS, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced.

A lead Syrian province official who was responsible for deadly plots and operations in eastern Syria was killed, CENTCOM said in a press release.

Col. Joe Buccino, a spokesperson for CENTCOM, said “ISIS continues to represent a threat to the security and stability of the region.”

“This operation reaffirms CENTCOM’s steadfast commitment to ensuring the group’s enduring defeat,” Buccino said in a statement. “The death of these ISIS officials will disrupt the terrorist organization’s ability to further plot and carry out destabilizing attacks in the Middle East.”

The strike is the latest the U.S. has carried out in the war-torn country against the terrorist group, which has largely been defeated but still maintains a loose operation in Syria.

In February, a U.S. raid led to the death of a senior leader of ISIS, who reportedly blew himself up as forces closed in on him. That raid was announced by President Biden.

U.S. strikes also killed two other top officials in the terrorist group over the summer.