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In Pictures: US forces launch deadly raid in Syria’s Idlib

Overnight operation jolts the sleepy town of Atmeh, near Syria’s border with Turkey.

Syrians gather on February 3, 2022 at the scene following an overnight raid by US special operations forces against suspected jihadists in northwestern Syria which left at least nine people dead, including three civilians.
The scene of the overnight raid by US special operations forces in northwestern Syria. [Aaref Watad/AFP]
Published On 3 Feb 2022

US special forces have carried out, what the Pentagon said, a large-scale counterterrorism raid in northwestern Syria.

The Syrian Civil Defense, a volunteer rescue group operating in rebel-held parts of Syria that is also known as White Helmets, said 13 people were killed in shelling and clashes that ensued after the US special forces raid. They included six children and four women, it added.

The operation, which residents say lasted for more than two hours, jolted the sleepy town of Atmeh in Idlib province near the Turkish border — an area dotted with camps for internally displaced people from Syria’s war.

The target of the raid was not immediately clear.

It was the largest raid in the province since a 2019 assault that killed ISIL (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Syrian civil defence evacaute a body
Members of the White Helmets evacuate a body following the attack on a building in Atmeh. [Abdulaziz Ketaz/AFP]
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Blood covers the floor of the destroyed house. [Ghaith Alsayed/AP Photo]
A damaged room and windows are seen inside a house after an operation by the U.S. military in the Syrian village o
A damaged room inside the house. [Ghaith Alsayed/AP Photo]
Syrian civil defence search on February 3, 2022 the scene following an overnight raid by US special operations forces
Rescuers search the scene of the attack. [Mohammed al-Rifai/AFP]
A child shows an empty bullet shell
A child holds an empty bullet shell outside the house. [Ghaith Alsayed/AP Photo]
A Syrian man rides his motorcycle along damaged shops
Aman rides his motorcycle along damaged shops after the operation. [Ghaith Alsayed/AP Photo]
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People check at a destroyed house after an operation by the U.S. military in the Syrian village of Atmeh
The area is housing camps for internally displaced people from Syria's war. [Ghaith Alsayed/AP Photo]