Three top ISIS chiefs 'arrested' as US special forces launch insertion strike in Syria

Three senior ISIS officials are reported to have been arrested by US troops during a covert military operation in Syria. US special forces are said to have carried out the mission alongside Iraqi troops in Atimah, Syria.

The operation involved the use of drones and three helicopters. Clashes were reported and one ISIS militant is said to have been killed. Among those reportedly arrested was a French national who goes by the nom de guerre of Abu Wadah al-Faransi. He was formerly a member of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria.

The French national is said to be responsible for recruiting Europeans to the terror organisation.

The news of the arrests was broken by the group Burkan al-Furat, and as yet has not been officially confirmed.

Burkan al Furat is said to be a militia group made up of former Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Syrian National Army (SNA) fighters from northeastern Syria, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) - a US think-tank.

It claimed responsibility for an attack in May on Russian forces stationed at Hmeimim air base, killing two Kremlin soldiers.

The organisation named Abu Qais al-Iraqi and Abu Muhammad al-Iraqi as the other senior ISIS members arrested. Abu Qais al-Iraq is a top security official, while Abu Muhammad al-Iraqi was once the governor of Salah Al din in Iraq.

During the raid, one militant was killed after trying to escape, jumping from a balcony into a garden before being gunned down by US and Iraqi troops.

After the raid, the troops searched the building and confiscated all mobile phones and electronic devices.

Burkan al Furat initially claimed that the head of ISIS Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi had been arrested "naked" during the covert mission - a claim that has since been refuted.

Abu Hafs is the fifth and current leader (caliph) of the Islamic State, taking over the role in August 2023. His appointment came four months after the death of his predecessor Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi.