Clashes erupt in Syria as US-led troops conduct anti-jihadist operation: monitor
India Today
Troops from the US-led anti-jihadist coalition landed in northwest Syria in search of wanted militants, resulting in clashes, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
Troops from the US-led anti-jihadist coalition landed in northwest Syria Thursday in search of wanted militants, resulting in clashes, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria, said the helicopter-borne forces touched down near camps for displaced people in Atme, a town close to the border with Turkey in jihadist-dominated Idlib province.
Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP the operation was the largest since coalition special forces launched an October 2019 raid in Idlib that led to the killing of Islamic State (IS) chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The clashes lasted for two hours in the area, the monitor said, and the identities of the jihadists who were the focus of the operation have not been released.
The Observatory said there were "confirmed reports of fatalities" without providing details about their number or identities.
Residents in the area told AFP they heard shelling and gunfire.
In an audio recording circulating among residents and attributed to the coalition, an Arabic speaker can be heard asking women and children to evacuate their homes in the targeted area.
