U.S. special forces raid ISIS in northeast Syria

U.S. special operations forces dropped from helicopters in northeast Syria to arrest an Islamic State leader on Thursday in a rare operation inside Syrian government territory, according to a Syrian Kurdish security official.

A Pentagon spokesman, Col. Joe Buccino, said in a statement that CENTCOM forces had conducted a raid in northeast Syria targeting a senior ISIS official. U.S. officials don't say whether he was captured or killed in the terrorist group, or whether he was a key figure in the terrorist group.

A U.S. military decision to send American commandos on a risky nighttime mission in Syrian-held territory would suggest the significance of the ISIS official, counterterrorism analysts said.

A Kurdish security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said airborne troops landed near a village outside the city of Qamishli before dawn on Thursday.