The US military has confirmed it conducted a counterterrorism operation in northwestern Syria. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby was short on details, calling the mission a success and saying the American troops suffered no casualties. Sources on the ground described a large gun battle to the media, and said some civilians were killed.
The US raid targeted a house in the village of Atmeh in Syria’s Idlib province near the border with Turkey, the Associated Press said, citing local sources. The operation involved helicopters, explosions, and machine gun fire, residents told the agency on condition of anonymity.
The US did not immediately offer a casualty count for non-US parties. A local reporter cited by AP said he saw at least 12 dead bodies at the site. The same figure was cited by Al Jazeera sources, which said the fatalities included seven children and three women. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights cited its sources as saying that at least nine people were killed, including two children and a woman.
Witnesses cited by AP and Al Jazeera said the assault was the largest by US forces in Idlib since the October 2019 operation to kill Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, then-leader of the terrorist group Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS).
An AP source in the Pentagon said the US lost at least one helicopter during the mission. The aircraft malfunctioned and had to be destroyed by exploding it to keep it out of the hands of the militants.