The US-led coalition, Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR), says it was forced to strike a hospital in Hajin, Syria because it was being used by Islamic State fighters. US-backed forces have been battling the Islamic State for control of Hajin for weeks.
Since mid-April, the Islamic State and the Assad regime have been engaged in an intense battle in the southern neighborhoods of Damascus. ISIS claims to have killed or wounded hundreds of Assad’s soldiers, but its figures cannot be independently verified. Meanwhile, the so-called caliphate continues to fight the Syrian government and its allies in other areas as well, including in eastern Syria.
CENTCOM announced today that Fawaz Muhammad Jubayr al-Rawi, a “finance emir” for the Islamic State, was killed in an airstrike in eastern Syria earlier this month. Last year, the US and Iraqi governments jointly targeted Rawi and his financial network, which handled millions of dollars for the so-called caliphate.
CENTCOM announced today that “three senior foreign fighters” in the Islamic State were killed in recent weeks. Two of them were reportedly involved in the group’s “external operations” and one of them was a trainer in the “Cubs of the Caliphate” program, which indoctrinates youth. The third jihadist helped oversee the Islamic State’s use of small drones.
The US military announced today that Abdurakhmon Uzbeki, a “close associate” of Abu Bakr al Baghdadi who facilitated the New Year’s Eve attack in Istanbul, Turkey, was killed during a special forces raid in Syria on Apr. 6.