Kurdish Official Says US Drone Strike Kills ISIS Member in Northeast Syria

US military operations against ISIS in Syria have escalated over the past week

A US-led coalition drone strike in northern Syria on Monday killed an ISIS member, The Associated Press reported Monday, citing a Kurdish-Syrian security official.

The official said the strike took place in the northern village of Hamam al-Turkman, which is controlled by Turkish-backed forces. So far, US Central Command has not taken credit for the strike, which the Kurdish official said targeted an ISIS member who was driving a motorcycle.

The reported drone strike came after CENTCOM said it killed three ISIS members in operations last week. The operations included airstrikes and a rare raid carried out in Syrian government-controlled territory.

On Saturday, CENTCOM said a rocket was fired at a base in northeast Syria housing US troops, although there were no casualties or damage reported. But the US has previously launched major airstrikes in response to similar incidents.

The US currently maintains an occupation force of about 900 troops in eastern Syria, a presence that is opposed by the Syrian government. The area of the country that the US occupies is where most of Syria’s oil resources are located, and local media frequently reports US military convoys stealing oil by shipping it into Iraq.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.