According to a White House press release, United States Special Forces have killed a senior ISIS official, Abu Sayyaf, during a covert operation inside of Syrian borders.
The team reportedly managed to capture the commander’s wife during the raid while Sayyaf himself was killed. The raid was carried out by United States forces at the authorization of President Obama. The team entered Syria via helicopter. According to the White House statement, at least 12 ISIS fighters were killed during the raid. American forces suffered no casualties.
Sayyaf is reportedly in charge of oil and gas operations for the terror group. The sale of oil and gas is one of the reasons ISIS has been able to amass such a large fortune so quickly. With top ISIS leadership in question, it was believed Sayyaf was becoming more and more involved with day to day operations and may have been in line to become one of the top officials in the organization.
This news comes only 3 days after it was announced that the number 2 man and interim leader of ISIS, Abu Alaa al-Afri, was killed during a coalition airstrike.
Some have speculated that al-Afri was in the process of preparing to take over leadership of ISIS as the current leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is allegedly injured.
It is believed that al-Afri was originally passed over for the leadership position because his family did not have as strong of historical ties to the prophet Muhammed as al-Baghdadi’s family.
With al-Baghdadi sidelined with what could be a serious injury this news could leave ISIS’s leadership somewhat crippled. Another top ISIS official, Akram Qirbash, was also killed during the strike.
Source: CNN
