Overview

• CENTCOM said an unnamed senior ISIS official described as a key financier was killed in an Aug. 19 pre-dawn operation in Atmeh, Idlib province.
• U.S. officials said the target was linked to planning attacks in Syria and Iraq and posed a direct threat to U.S., coalition forces and the new Syrian government.
• Earlier accounts from Syrian state media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported a capture and offered differing identities, which remain unconfirmed.
• Residents and security sources reported helicopters and drones overhead, troops landing before dawn, local forces cordoning the area and some family members being detained.
• No U.S. casualties were reported, and the raid fits a pattern of operations in Idlib that have removed senior ISIS figures in recent years.