Abu Sayyaf Killed by US Special Forces
WASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters) – U.S. special operations forces killed a senior Islamic State leader, who helped direct the group’s oil, gas and financial operations, during a raid in eastern Syria, the Pentagon and White House said on Saturday.
The White House said President Barack Obama ordered the raid that killed the man identified as Abu Sayyaf. U.S. officials said his wife, Umm Sayyaf, was captured in the raid and was being held in Iraq.
White House National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said in a statement that U.S. personnel based out of Iraq conducted the operation in al-Amr in eastern Syria.
“During the course of the operation, Abu Sayyaf was killed when he engaged U.S. forces,” Meehan said.
“The president authorized this operation upon the unanimous recommendation of his national security team and as soon as we had developed sufficient intelligence and were confident the mission could be carried out successfully and consistent with the requirements for undertaking such operations,” Meehan said.
Meehan said the operation was conducted “with the full consent of Iraqi authorities” and “consistent with domestic and international law.” (Reporting by Will Dunham; editing by David Clarke)