SYRIA: Two ISIS leaders killed in Basira in Deir ez-Zor countryside; 14 SNA fighters killed in Tel Abyad countryside

BASIRA and TEL ABYAD, Syria – In cooperation with the Anti-Terror Units (YAT) of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), U.S.-led International Coalition forces carried out a military operation in which two ISIS leaders were killed in Basira, southeast of Deir ez-Zor.

The operation, conducted by airdrop, targeted a pair of ISIS officials involved in the groups intensifying insurgency east of the Euphrates River.

During the raid, SDF and Coalition forces instructed people to stay in their homes and demanded the ISIS members give themselves up.

Refusing to surrender, the ISIS members engaged in a fierce firefight with the SDF and Coalition forces, eventually detonating suicide belts and killing themselves. Several other suspected ISIS members surrendered to the SDF.

According to the SDF, all those arrested had suicide belts.

Also, these cells were found with #explosive_belts, #weapons, and #equipment . pic.twitter.com/1d3s0W9P5f

— Coordination & Military Ops Center – SDF (@cmoc_sdf) May 17, 2020

Following the operation, three U.S. helicopters landed to transfer the forces involved out of the area.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that at least one civilian was killed during the operation while trying to observe from the rooftop of his home.

In other news, the SDF killed a group of Syrian National Army (SNA) fighters who had attempted to infiltrate into the village of Koberlak in the countryside of Tel Abyad, north of Raqqa. The SNA fighters snuck into the village which is under the control of the SDF. According to the SDF, 14 SNA fighters were killed.

The SNA is a collection of militias, including several espousing Islamist ideologies, formed and funded by Turkey, which act as Turkey’s force on the ground during its Syrian operations. The factions within the SNA have become notorious for their criminality.