Commandos from the US-led coalition battling the terror group known as Islamic State (IS) have raided a village held by militants in eastern Syria, according to forces.tv .
US Central Command told AFP that “an operation was conducted in that area”, but declined to give further details.
At least 25 jihadists were killed in the two-hour raid, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.
“Four helicopters from the international coalition yesterday [Sunday] at noon carried out a commando raid on Al-Kubar village in western Deir Ezzor province.”
– Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.
The oil-rich eastern province, which borders Iraq, is almost totally under IS control and has been regularly targeted by US-led forces.
Coalition forces targeted a bus carrying 14 IS fighters, killing them all, according to Abdel Rahman.
They also targeted an IS-controlled water facility in the village, killing at least 11 IS fighters in a firefight.
A commander of the SDF, a US-backed coalition of Arab and Kurdish forces, confirmed the raid on the village, 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Deir Ezzor city.
“Four American Apache helicopters and two back-up helicopters, carried out a commando raid.”
The attack targeted vehicles driven by senior IS fighters coming from Raqqa, killing several and capturing others, he added.
A Syrian Army official said military radars had detected the operation but could not identify the nationality of the aircraft.
The US has been leading a campaign against IS in Syria since September 2014.
Deir Ezzor is Syria’s second-largest province after Homs.
Since early 2015 jihadists have besieged the provincial capital, also called Deir Ezzor, home to some 200,000 people.
IS controls around 60% of the city, the rest of which is held by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
