Civilians, including children, have been killed in a raid by US special operation forces in Northwest Syria, according to residents.
On Thursday, February 3, 2022, local sources said at least 13 people, including seven children and three women, were killed in the overnight operation near the Turkey border in the province of Idlib.
The raid hit a closely populated area where the people live in overcrowded homes after thousands of people were displaced from the Syria war in March 2011.
Several residents (speaking on the basis of anonymity) said they saw civilian deaths and body parts scattered around a house in the village of Atme.
Heavy gunfire
In a statement, the Pentagon said the “mission was successful” but provided no details on who was the target of the raid, or if there were any casualties.
Pentagon Press Secretary, John Kirby said “U.S. Special Operations forces under the control of U.S. Central Command conducted a counter-terrorism mission this evening in northwest Syria.”
He further added, “There were no U.S. casualties. More information will be provided as it becomes available.”
Media reports suggest the raid is believed to target a suspected al Qaeda-affiliated fighter, but there was no other information on the person’s identity and no immediate reports of any fighters being killed. Residents said they heard heavy gunfire during the operation, indicating resistance to the raid.
Syria TV channel showed a wounded child being carried by emergency rescuers as well as concrete wreckage in video clips.
According to the channel, the videos were taken in Atmeh, which is along the border across the southern Turkish province of Hatay.
A senior fellow with the Washington-based Middle East Institute, Charles Lister, said the operation lasted more than two hours, according to residents’ account.
“Clearly they wanted whoever it was alive,” Lister said.
He added that “This looks like the biggest of this type of operation” since the al-Baghdadi raid, referring to a 2019 US special operations raid in Northwest Syria that killed ISIL (ISIS) leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
According to residents and rebel sources, several helicopters landed near Atmeh and explosions were heard near the home of a foreign fighter.
A rebel official (speaking on anonymity) disclosed that the suspected target was with his family at the time of the raid.
One resident said several people were killed in the raid, while another said rescuers pulled out at least 13 bodies from the wreck of a multistorey building.
Another social media post said the casualties included three women and seven children.
Witnesses said the raid appeared to have ended, but unidentified exploration planes were still hovering around the area.
The rebel official said the main rebel security group controlling parts of Northwest Syria from Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham, hurried to the location after the raid.
The northwest of Syria, Idlib, is mostly held by Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra Front, which was part of al-Qaeda until 2016.
Several foreign fighters who split from the group have set up the Huras al-Din (Guardians of Religion) group, which has been identified by the US as a “foreign terrorist organisation”, and has in recent years targeted coalition attacks.
For years, the US military has used drones to kill top al-Qaeda operatives in Northern Syria, where the fighter group became active during Syria’s civil war, which has gone on for more than 10 years.
US-led coalition operations against remnants of ISIL sleeper cells are more frequent in Northeastern Syria, which is held by Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
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