The US killed a senior ISIS official in a rare raid near the northern Syrian city of Qamishli, its armed forces said on Thursday.
Rakkan Al Shammri, an ISIS official “known to facilitate the smuggling of weapons and fighters”, was killed in a dawn helicopter raid, US Central Command said.
One of his associates was wounded and two were detained. No civilians or US forces were wounded or killed in the raid, it said.
The offensive was conducted in the Syrian government-held village of Muluk Saray in Hasakeh province.
It is the first known US raid against ISIS in regime-held territory.
Centcom said later on Thursday that it had killed another unidentified senior ISIS official and Abu Hashum Al Umawi, a deputy leader of Syria, in an air strike in northern Syria.
It reported no other deaths or injuries as part of the operation.
US forces initiated the attack on Al Shammri after he was found to be responsible for beheading two members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces — US allies in the fight against ISIS — an official told Reuters.
US helicopters landed in the village after midnight and locals were told to stay indoors. They also raided a building used by Syrian regime forces, where they detained several people, a source told Reuters.
“The airborne operation targeted a key ISIS leader present in the areas controlled by the Syrian government. It was successful,” they said.
“This operation aims to expand the scope of targeting this organisation's members across different parts of Syria.”
The ISIS operative reportedly killed in the raid was said to have moved to the village from the town of Taif, a former ISIS stronghold on the Iraqi border, and his identity was unknown to locals.
ISIS leaders Abu Ibrahim Al Quraishi and Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi were both killed during US raids in western Syria.
Al Quraishi blew himself up during a US raid in the town of Atme in Idlib province in February.
Al Baghdadi also died by suicide during a raid in Barisha, in Idlib, in 2019. Both areas are controlled by rebel groups, some of which are affiliated with Al Qaeda.
Although defeated in Syria in 2019, ISIS has continued to wage an insurgency in Iraq and Syria, and poses a high security threat.
Many of its former members are detained in Kurdish-controlled prisons and camps across Hasakeh, including the notorious Al Hol camp, home to thousands of ISIS-affiliated women and their children.
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What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
Mubadala World Tennis Championship 2018 schedule
Thursday December 27
Men's quarter-finals
Kevin Anderson v Hyeon Chung 4pm
Dominic Thiem v Karen Khachanov 6pm
Women's exhibition
Serena Williams v Venus Williams 8pm
Friday December 28
5th place play-off 3pm
Men's semi-finals
Rafael Nadal v Anderson/Chung 5pm
Novak Djokovic v Thiem/Khachanov 7pm
Saturday December 29
3rd place play-off 5pm
Men's final 7pm
RESULTS
Cagliari 5-2 Fiorentina
Udinese 0-0 SPAL
Sampdoria 0-0 Atalanta
Lazio 4-2 Lecce
Parma 2-0 Roma
Juventus 1-0 AC Milan
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Dubai World Cup nominations
UAE: Thunder Snow/Saeed bin Suroor (trainer), North America/Satish Seemar, Drafted/Doug Watson, New Trails/Ahmad bin Harmash, Capezzano, Gronkowski, Axelrod, all trained by Salem bin Ghadayer
USA: Seeking The Soul/Dallas Stewart, Imperial Hunt/Luis Carvajal Jr, Audible/Todd Pletcher, Roy H/Peter Miller, Yoshida/William Mott, Promises Fulfilled/Dale Romans, Gunnevera/Antonio Sano, XY Jet/Jorge Navarro, Pavel/Doug O’Neill, Switzerland/Steve Asmussen.
Japan: Matera Sky/Hideyuki Mori, KT Brace/Haruki Sugiyama. Bahrain: Nine Below Zero/Fawzi Nass. Ireland: Tato Key/David Marnane. Hong Kong: Fight Hero/Me Tsui. South Korea: Dolkong/Simon Foster.
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
Info
What: 11th edition of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship
When: December 27-29, 2018
Confirmed: men: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Kevin Anderson, Dominic Thiem, Hyeon Chung, Karen Khachanov; women: Venus Williams
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae, Virgin megastores or call 800 86 823
