U.S. commandos mounted a rare raid into eastern Syria overnight, killing dozens of militants and a senior ISIS commander in a firefight, capturing his wife and rescuing a Yazidi woman held as a slave, the Pentagon said Saturday.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced the raid, identifying the militant as Abu Sayyaf. He said no U.S. forces were killed or injured in the operation.
A U.S.-led coalition has been striking ISIS militants in Syria since last year, but this is only the second time troops have carried out a ground raid. A previous operation was aimed at rescuing Americans held hostage by the group.
Syrian state media earlier reported that Syrian government forces killed at least 40 ISIS fighters, including a senior commander in charge of oil fields, in an attack Saturday on the country's largest oil field - held by ISIS.
It identified the commander as Abu al-Teem al-Saudi. The name indicates he was a Saudi citizen.
It was not immediately clear why both Syria and the U.S. would claim a similar operation in the Omar oil field.
"The U.S. government did not coordinate with the Syrian regime, nor did we advise them in advance of this operation," said White House National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan.
"We have warned the Assad regime not to interfere with our ongoing efforts against ISIL inside of Syria," she said, using an alternative acronym for ISIS. "The Assad regime is not and cannot be a partner in the fight against ISIL."
A statement from the U.S. National Security Council said Abu Sayyaf was a "senior ISIL leader who, among other things, had a senior role in overseeing ISIL's illicit oil and gas operations - a key source of revenue that enables the terrorist organization to carry out their brutal tactics and oppress thousands of innocent civilians."
"He was also involved with the group's military operations," it said.
It said President Barack Obama authorized the operation upon the "unanimous recommendation" of his national security team.
The statement also said the commandos rescued a young Yazidi woman "who appears to have been held as a slave" by the slain militant and his wife. ISIS militants captured hundreds of members of the Yazidi religious minority in northern Iraq during their rampage across the country last summer.
The extremist group controls much of northern and eastern Syria as well as northern and western Iraq. It has control of most of the oil fields in Syria, which are a key source of its funding. It has declared a caliphate in the territories under its control and governs them under a harsh version of Islamic law. (The Daily Star, Agencies)
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