US raid kills 32 IS terrorists in Syria

Damascus, May 17 (IANS) At least 32 terrorists of the Islamic State (IS) group, including four commanders, were killed by a US raid in Syria’s eastern province of Deir al-Zour, a monitor group reported on Sunday.

The dead IS militants were targeted by US-led airstrikes and by a raid the US special forces carried out near the al-Omar oil field in the countryside of Deir al-Zour at the early hours of Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Britain-based watchdog group said four commanders, three of whom were Moroccans, were killed in the US-led attack. It cited “confirmed sources” as claiming that the IS terrorists of Arab and African origins were accused of leaking information to the US-led anti-terror coalition, which led to the US raids in that oil-rich province.

A day earlier, the Pentagon confirmed that US Special Operations troops based in Iraq carried out a raid in eastern Syria’s al-Omar area, killing an IS leader known as Abu Sayyaf, who played a lead role in IS oil operations. Abu Sayyaf’s wife was arrested by the US forces during the raid.

Syria’s official media did not comment on the US narrative, but said the Syrian troops killed the so-called “IS minister of oil” in a qualitative operation near al-Omar oil field in Deir al- Zour.