Up to 13 Syrian Civilians Killed in US Raid on ISIS Leader

Facts

• Up to 13 civilians, including 6 children and 4 women, were reportedly killed in a Feb. 3 night raid targetting ISIS leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi.¹
• At around 1am local time, US Apache helicopters and surveillance drones descended on the Syrian town of Atme to a compound where al-Qurayshi and his family lived.²
• Commandos 'air-dropped' and began a large ground assault, urging women and children to leave. A 2-hr gunfight reportedly ensued.³
• The US has been planning the operation since identifying al-Qurayshi's hiding place in Dec. – opting for Special Forces rather than air/drone strikes to avoid civilian casualties.⁴
• Biden said al-Qurayshi blew himself and his family up during the raid. The responsibility for the civilian deaths is disputed by local, though uncorroborated, sources.¹
• The Pentagon is yet to address the civilian casualties, but Biden said a report is being compiled.⁵

Sources: ¹Airwars, ²Independent (a), ³New York Post, ⁴New Yorker and ⁵Independent (b).

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by New Yorker. Biden conducted a successful counter-terrorism operation -- following months of sercret planning -- in the midst of Ukraine-Russia tensions, threats from China and Iran, and a global pandemic. This was win for the president and for peace.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Newsweek. This raid was an illegal violation of Syria's sovereignty. Though Damascus and Washington agree that ISIS is a terrorist organization, the US had no right to violate Syria's airspace in order to continue its policy of extrajudicial killings under the guise of counter-terrorism.
• Cynical narrative, as provided by Moonofalabama. The Pentagon's description of this as 'successful' is misleading, given both the number of women and children killed, and past US actions that have benefitted Islamic extremists in Syria.