A U.S. operation in Syria, conducted alongside a local opposition group, aimed at capturing an Islamic State official instead resulted in the death of a man who had been working undercover to gather intelligence on ISIS, family members and Syrian officials told the AP. The October killing highlights the complex political and security environment as the United States begins cooperating with interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in efforts against the remnants of the extremist group.
According to relatives, Khaled al-Masoud had been spying on ISIS for years—first for al-Sharaa’s insurgents and later for al-Sharaa’s interim government, which was formed following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad last year. Al-Sharaa’s forces were mainly Islamist fighters, some with ties to al-Qaeda, who were hostile to ISIS and had clashed with the group repeatedly over the past decade. U.S. and Syrian officials have not publicly commented on al-Masoud’s death.
The raid occurred on October 19 in Dumayr, east of Damascus. Residents reported that U.S. troops conducted the operation alongside the Syrian Free Army, a U.S.-trained opposition faction that had fought against Assad and now reports to the Syrian Defense Ministry.
Al-Masoud’s cousin described seeing U.S. Humvees outside his home on the morning of the raid. His mother, Sabah al-Sheikh al-Kilani, said the forces surrounded her son’s house, where he lived with his wife and five daughters, and knocked on the door. Al-Masoud reportedly identified himself as a member of the General Security branch of Syria’s Interior Ministry, but the forces broke down the door, shot him, and took him away, al-Kilani said. Government security officials later told the family he had been released but was hospitalized. The family was eventually called to collect his body.
Al-Masoud’s relatives believe he may have been mistakenly targeted based on faulty intelligence from Syrian Free Army members. Representatives from that group did not respond to requests for comment.
Before Assad’s fall, al-Masoud had worked with al-Sharaa’s insurgent group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, according to his cousin. He later returned to Dumayr and served with the security services of al-Sharaa’s interim government. Two Syrian security officials and one political official confirmed that al-Masoud was involved in security operations for the interim government, including efforts to combat ISIS.