Centcom said Friday that U.S. forces killed Dhiya’ Zawba Muslih al-Hardani, a senior ISIS (ISIL or Daesh) leader, along with his two sons, Abdallah Dhiya al-Hardani and Abd al-Rahman Dhiya Zawba al-Hardani, who Centcom says are affiliated with ISIS.
“These ISIS individuals posed a threat to US and Coalition Forces, as well as the new Syrian Government,” Centcom announced in a statement.
Three women and three children who were on site when the raid took place were not injured, Centcom added.
No U.S. forces were harmed during the raid, a U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Hill on Friday.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in late June to get rid of most U.S. sanctions on Syria, lifting decades of restrictions and providing relief to Damascus’s new government that overthrew Syria’s Bashar Assad.
The president first announced the axing of sanctions during his May 13 speech in Saudi Arabia, where he hammered “interventionists” and “neocons” for destroying “far more nations than they built.”
Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, Centcom’s chief, said the U.S. will continue to “relentlessly pursue ISIS terrorists wherever they are.”
“ISIS terrorists are not safe where they sleep, where they operate, and where they hide. Alongside our partners and allies, U.S. Central Command is committed to the enduring defeat of ISIS terrorists that threaten the region, our allies, and our homeland,” Kurilla added.
