US raid kills senior ISIL commander: Pentagon

United States Special Operation forces have conducted a raid in eastern Syria, killing a senior commander of the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group, Pentagon says.

Abu Sayyaf “was killed during the course of the operation when he engaged US forces,” Pentagon chief Ashton Carter said Friday.

The US forces conducted the raid overnight Friday to Saturday which aimed to capture Sayyaf, but he fought back and was killed during the raid.

Sayyaf was in charge of ISIL’ oil and gas operations and was directly involved in ISIL command and control.

The American forces have managed to capture his wife, an Iraqi named Umm Sayyaf, and took her to Iraq for interrogation.

The ISIL terrorists, who were initially trained by the CIA in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize the Syrian government, now control large parts of Iraq and Syria.

Washington has launched hundreds of airstrikes against the ISIL militants in Iraq and Syria, which analysts regard as part of the US attempts to gradually spread its influence in the region.

Reports say thousands of private security contractors are being asked by the US government to consider joining the fight against ISIL in Iraq and Syria and possibly elsewhere in the Middle East.