US Central Command forces capture Islamic State official in Syria after helicopter raid

(Reuters) -The United States Central Command on Monday said its forces had captured an Islamic State official after conducting a helicopter raid in northern Syria on Saturday.

“Abu Halil al-Fad’ani, an ISIS Syria Operational and Facilitation official, was captured during the raid. Al-Fad’ani was assessed to have relationships throughout the ISIS network in the region,” the US Central Command said in a statement.

Troy Garlock, a spokesperson for the US Central Command, said: “The capture of ISIS officials like al-Fad’ani increases our ability to locate, target, and remove terrorists from the battlefield.”

No civilians were killed or injured during the operation, the statement said.

(Reporting by Maya Gebeily; Writing by Hatem Maher; Editing by Chris Reese and Mark Porter)