A helicopter raid by U.S. forces in northern Syria early on Monday killed a senior leader of the militant Islamic State group, the U.S. military said.
The U.S. Central Command said in a statement that the IS leader, Abd-al-Hadi Mahmud al-Haji Ali, was “responsible for planning terror attacks in the Middle East and Europe.” Two other alleged IS members, were killed along with al-Haji Ali who was the target of the raid, CENTCOM said. The statement said no civilians or U.S. troops were hurt in the operation.
It said the raid was launched after intelligence uncovered a plan by IS to “kidnap officials abroad as leverage for (IS) initiatives.”