Obama Sends U.S. Special Operations Forces Into Syria To Kill A Third ISIS Commander, Abu Sayyaf

[SEE: Obama Hammers ISIS Leadership–Baghdadi May Be Dead, #2 Abu Alaa al-Afri Is Dead]

Sources: U.S. Special Operations forces kill ISIS commander Abu Sayyaf in Syria raid

By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent

(CNN)U.S. Special Operations forces killed a senior ISIS commander during a raid intended to capture him in eastern Syria overnight Friday to Saturday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said.

The ISIS commander, Abu Sayyaf, fought capture and was killed in the raid in al-Amr, he said in a statement.

Carter said he had ordered the raid at the direction of President Barack Obama. All the U.S. troops involved returned safely.

“Abu Sayyaf was involved in ISIL’s military operations and helped direct the terrorist organization’s illicit oil, gas, and financial operations as well,” he said.

His wife, an Iraqi named Umm Sayyaf, was captured and is currently in military detention in Iraq, National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said in a statement.

Umm Sayyaf “played an important role in ISIL’s terrorist activities, and may have been complicit in what appears to have been the enslavement of a young Yezidi woman rescued last night,” Carter said. ISIL is an alternative acronym for ISIS.

Umm Sayyaf is believed to have been involved in human trafficking and hostage taking.

About a dozen ISIS fighters were killed in the firefight at a residential building in Deir Ezzor, the sources said.

Abu Sayyaf is not a name familiar to many ISIS watchers.

But the fact that the United States clearly had him under close watch was ready to put its forces at risk by going deep into Syria to carry out the raid suggests they saw the target as very valuable.

CNN’s Jamie Crawford and Nick Paton Walsh contributed to this report.

Iran Attacks Another Vessel, Claiming Debt Collection

Tanker engaged by Iranian vessels liable for $300mn in damages to oil rig – Tehran

Iranian naval ships (Reuters/Jamejamonline/Ebrahim Norouzi)

A Singapore-flagged tanker which, owner claims, came under Iranian navy fire in the international waters off the UAE this week, is wanted over the unsettled $300mn debt in damages it caused to an oil rig in late March, according to Iranian official.

The incident happened on Thursday after Iranian naval patrol boat spotted MT Alpine Eternity commercial ship in the international Persian Gulf, just off the island of Abu Musa, and demanded it to maneuver into Iranian waters.

Several warning short were fired as the tanker, operated by Norway’s Transpetrol TM AS, issued a distress call, prompting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to send out coastguard vessels. The tanker’s owner, South Maritime Pte Ltd, even claimed that one shot was fired directly on the ship, but “no serious damage was sustained by the vessel and none of the 23 crew members were injured.”

The Alpine Eternity was escorted and is now safely anchored off Dubai.
[The Alpine Eternity is now stopped in Dubai.  Note the close proximity of Abu Musa Island, where the ship came under fire from the Iranian Navy.  Iran, once again, claims that this attack, like the Maersk Tigris was for  unpaid debt collection.  The more that Iran and Saudi become disentangled, the more that Iran strikes-out at the international community which supports the Saudi aggression.  A real confrontation is, no doubt, in the works.]

Iranian officials did not comment on the incident much, with the country’s sole oil official announcing that the tanker was wanted by Tehran in connection with its collision with an oil rig at around March 22.

“We want neighboring countries to take the necessary cooperation on confiscation and handing over of this particular vessel,” Habib Jadidi, a director of Iran’s giant South Pars gas field operations, told Shana news outlet.

The director blamed the ship and its captain for drifting some 40-50 kilomenters off course in March which has caused the accident.

“The collision has created a very dangerous situation for the wells. If it is not quickly tackled, wellhead installations will be damaged and if no gas flows from the wells it could lead to unpleasant hazards and pollution,”Jadibi said. Notifying the operators of the caused damage, Jadibi said, produced no result.

Briton aboard Maersk Tigris cargo ship seized by Iran, FO confirms

Meanwhile, the vessel’s owner and manager Transpetrol issued a statement confirming “uncharted object” collision in March insisting it caused no pollution or injuries to crew. The statement claimed that the operator remains in “continuous dialogue” with proper authorities and there was no reason whatsoever for Iranian naval patrol to engage the vessel.

“Owners and managers can see no reason why the Iranian Authorities should try to seize the vessel, given the advanced state of negotiations and ongoing dialogue with the Iranian counterparts,” the statement read.

This week’s incident is at least second in the Gulf involving the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy and a commercial ships.

In late April, Iran detained a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz for more than a week. In that incident, Tehran too said that the company that chartered the MV Maersk Tigris owed money to an Iranian firm. The vessel was released after the matter was settled.

1981 Clip from Barney Miller Show Detailing New World Order