US troops seen in action in Syria in June 2021.
Syrian government and opposition media report a US airdrop in eastern Syria designed as a raid against arms dealers and people suspected of working with the Islamic State group.
The official Syrian news agency SANA reported of a US raid where civilians “were abducted”, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), an opposition monitoring group based in London described the operation as a security campaign.
The operation was conducted by Syria Democratic Forces allied with the United States and US Coalition Forces, according to SOHR, in Al-Busayrah town in the eastern Deir Ezzor province, early on Monday. There has been no confirmation from Coalition sources.
The report referring to SOHR’s local sources said four people were killed in the raid, including a teacher and his two sone. One of the sons was suspected of arms dealings.
An undetermined number of people suspected of arms dealings and civilians were also arrested in the operation when Al-Busayrah was surrounded, and people were asked to surrender by loudspeakers. SOHR says gunfire and explosion erupted but it was not clear if it was caused by an exchange of fire between the two sides or by the security forces in pursuit of suspects.