US Troops Wrongly Kill People, Thought ISIS Official Turned Out To Be Intel In Charge Of Infiltration

UNSPLASH/Mahmoud Sulaiman ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Attacks by US troops and a local Syrian group aimed at arresting an ISIS group official killed a man who worked secretly gathering intelligence about extremists.

News of the wrong target was conveyed by members of the Syrian family and officials to the Associated Press.

The killings in October described a complex political and security landscape as the United States began working closely with Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa in fighting the remnants of ISIS.

According to relatives, Khaled al-Masoud has been spying on ISIS for years on behalf of the rebels led by al-Sharaa and then for the interim government of al-Sharaa, which was formed after the fall of former President Bashar Assad a year ago.

Al-Sharaa rebels are mostly Muslims, some of whom are linked to al-Qaeda, but are also enemies of ISIS who have clashed with him over the past decade.

Neither US officials nor the Syrian government have commented on the death of al-Masoud, an indication that both sides did not want the incident to thwart an improvement in relations.

A few weeks after the October 19 attacks, al-Sharaa visited Washington and announced Syria would join the global coalition against ISIS.

Even so, the death of al-Masoud could be a "big setback" for efforts to fight ISIS, said Wassim Nasr, senior researcher at the Soufan Center, a New York-based think tank focused on security issues.

Al-Masoud has infiltrated ISIS in the southern Syrian desert known as Badiya, one of the places where the remnants of the extremist group are still active, Nasr said.

The attack that targeted him was the result of "lack of coordination between the coalition and Damascus," Nasr said.

As the latest sign of increased cooperation, US Central Command previously said American troops and troops from the Syrian Interior Ministry had discovered and destroyed 15 ISIS weapons storage sites in the south.

The attack took place in Dumayr, a city east of Damascus on the edge of the desert. At around 3 am, residents were awakened by the sound of heavy vehicles and planes.

Residents said US troops carried out the attack with the Syrian Liberation Army (SFA), an opposition faction trained by the US and fought against Assad. SFA is now officially reporting to the Syrian Ministry of Defense.