US military captures key Islamic State militant during helicopter raid in Syria

By TARA COPP
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military says it has captured an operator for the Islamic State extremist group during a helicopter raid in northern Syria. U.S. Central Command said in a statement Monday that the operator, Abu Halil al-Fad’ani, “was assessed to have relationships throughout the ISIS network in the region.” It says his capture on Saturday increases the chance that U.S. counterterrorism operations there will be able to target additional members of the group. The U.S. has approximately 900 troops in Syria focused on countering the remnants of the Islamic State group, which had held a wide swath of Syria until 2019.