Syria says senior ISIL commander killed in Damascus countryside raid

A senior official who is known as the group’s governor of Hauran was killed while security forces are conducting a second operation against ISIL (ISIS) fighters close to Damascus, according to Syrian authorities.

Mohammed Shahadeh, also known as Abu Omar Shaddad, was named one of ISIL’s senior commanders in Syria and a direct threat to local security in a statement released on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Interior.

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Officials claimed that the operation was conducted in accordance with verified intelligence and extensive surveillance and that it was carried out by specialized units operating in the countryside of Damascus that targeted raided the town of al-Buweida near Qatana, southwest of the capital.

The General Intelligence Directorate was also involved in the operation, according to the ministry, and it cooperated with international coalition forces.

“Crupling blow”

According to the state-run SANA news agency, the announcement came a day after another senior ISIL figure was detained by Syrian internal security forces in a separate operation close to Damascus.

SANA reported that Taha al-Zoubi was detained in a “tightly executed security operation” in the countryside of Damascus. During the arrest, according to the police, officers “seize a suicide belt and a military weapon.”

The raid targeted an ISIL hideout in Maadamiya, southwest of the capital, according to Brigadier General Ahmad al-Dalati, the head of internal security in Damascus countryside.

ISIL has largely focused its remaining operations on Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria, which it views as illegitimate.

Raqqa became the armed group’s capital when it gained the most power in vast regions of Syria and Iraq.