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1st LD Writethru: U.S. military kills senior IS leader in Syria: Pentagon

Xinhua, May 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. special forces killed a senior leader of Islamic State (IS) group in eastern Syria, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said Saturday.

The raid was carried out at the direction of U.S. President Barack Obama to conduct an operation in eastern Syria to capture an IS leader known as Abu Sayyaf and his wife Umm Sayyaf, said Carter in a statement.

"Abu Sayyaf was killed during the course of the operation when he engaged U.S. forces," said the statement, adding that Umm Sayyaf was captured.

Abu Sayyaf was believed by the U.S. military as a senior IS leader involved in overseeing IS's oil and gas operations, a key source of revenue for IS daily operations.

No U.S. forces were killed or injured during the operation, said the statement. Endi