U.S. Special Operations Forces had to fight “hand to hand” in Friday night’s raid that killed the Islamic State terrorist group senior commander Abu Sayyaf, several defense officials told The Daily Beast Saturday.
Troops from the U.S. Army Delta Force landed near a multi-story building with Ospreys and Blackhawks and were met with resistance when they entered, including “hand to hand” combat, one official told The Daily Beast.
There was some resistance from armed guards and from the terrorist commander himself, but the troops were well prepared to handle that, another official said.
“it was risky, but not high risk,” the official said, the Daily Beast reported. “This is what these guys do.”
Some of the Islamic State fighters hid behind women, using them as human shields. The U.S. troops had to “literally shoot around” the human shields to kill the fighters, one of the defense officials said, The Daily Beast reported.
U.S. forces killed Abu Sayyaf as he attempted to resist them.
His wife, an Iraqi national, and an 18-year-old Yazidi slave were taken out of the compound, along with computers, cell phones and other forms of potential intelligence sources which U.S. officials are already assessing, one of the defense officials said, The Daily Beast reported.
U.S. officials are hoping the intelligence gathered in the raid will help them determine whether the second in command of the terrorist group was really killed as the Iraqi government reported.
“This mission was all about gathering intelligence,” the official said, the Daily Beast reported.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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