US-led coalition raid in northern Syria targeted jihadists: residents, rebel sources

A US-led coalition raid on Thursday targeted a suspected al Qaeda-affiliated jihadist in a northern Syrian town, said residents and sources with the rebels fighting against the Syrian government.

Several helicopters landed in an area near the town of Atmeh in the province of Idlib, which is in an area under rebel control along the border with Turkey, and explosions were heard near the home of a foreign jihadist, the residents and rebel sources said.

Anti-aircraft missiles were fired by rebels, in the last significant enclave held by insurgents fighting against Syrian President Bashar al Assad, a rebel source said.

A resident confirmed several people were killed in the operation, which witnesses said had ended as aircraft believed to be choppers had left the site. There was no confirmation that any jihadist were killed in the raid.

The US State Department and the spokesperson for the coalition forces in northern Syria (OIR spox) did not respond to requests for comment.

The northwest of Syria - Idlib province and a belt of territory around it - is mostly held by Hyat Tahrir al-Sham, the former Nusra Front, which was part of al Qaeda until 2016.

Several foreign jihadists figures who split from the group have set up the Huras al-Din group, (Guardians of Religion) designated as a foreign terrorist organistion, which has in recent years carried out coalition strikes.

For years, the US military has launched mostly drones to kill top al-Qaeda operatives in northern Syria, where the militant group became active during Syria’s over decade old civil war.

US led coalition operations against remnants of Islamic State sleeper cells are more frequent in northeast Syria held by Kurdish led US backed Syrian Democratic Forces.