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Delta Force raid in Syria

U.S. Special Operations Forces, lead by 1st SFOD-D (Delta Force) operators, got so close to the Abu Sayyaf bodyguards and had to fight hand-to-hand. Raid occurred in al-Amr in southeastern Syria and resulted with dead of ISIS top commander Abu Sayyaf and detaining of his wife, according to the reports published on The Daily Beast.

Troops from the U.S. Army's elite 1st SFOD-D unit, also known as Delta Force flew into the scene in Ospreys and Black Hawk helicopters, landing near a multi-storey building and meeting fierce resistance as they entered, the officials said. The troops engaged in close quarters combat with the target and his bodyguards, even trading blows hand-to-hand as they rushed the targets, unnamed defense officials revealed for Daily Beast.

The aircraft were flown by pilots from the Air Force Special Operations Command and the Army's famous 160th Special Operations Aviation regiment, they added. All of the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the raid publicly or reveal further information.

There was some resistance from armed guards and from Abu Sayyaf himself, but the raiders were prepared for that, as they were training for such situation during all career.

"It was risky, but not high risk," the official said. "This is what these guys do."

Yet, there seems to be much confusion remaining about the raid and as to who Abu Sayyaf really was. According to some mainstream media reports that conflict with the official narrative, Abu Sayyaf, or sheikh Mohammad Al-Shalabi, was Jordanian, not Tunisian, and was supportive of al-Qaeda, but against ISIS' interpretation of Islam.

Some ISIS fighters hid behind women in an attempt to use them as human shields, and the U.S. special forces troops had to "literally shoot around" the human shields to kill the fighters. Bullets flew few inches from hostage's heads, but they managed to kill the terrorists without wounding hostages in this high-tech raid.

The hand-to-hand combat occurred in the building where Abu Sayyaf was located, according to the same report from The Daily Beast. The Tunisian national, attempted to resist in some way, leading U.S. forces to kill him and put him on the world headlines as one of the highest ranked ISIS commanders, and yet the only one killed directly in combat with U.S. ground forces.