Was The Killing Of The IS Oil Minister A Combined Syrian-U.S.
Operation?
By Moon Of Alabama
Compare these two success announcements about the killing of
an alleged Islamic State oil functionary:
Reuters
Sat May 16, 2015 7:30am EDT:
Syrian army kills Islamic State's "oil minister"-state TV
May 16 The Syrian army has killed an Islamic State leader
responsible for oil-related affairs along with 40 other militants in an
attack in the eastern province of Deir al-Zor, Syrian state media reported.
A news flash on state TV identified Islamic
State's "oil minister" as Abu al-Taym al-Saudi. It
said he had been killed in a special operation in the Omar oil field,
Syria's largest, which Islamic State captured from rival insurgents last
July.
U.S. National Security Council
press release Sat May 16, 2015
8:19am
EDT
Last night, at the President’s direction, U.S. personnel
based out of Iraq conducted an operation in al-Amr in
eastern Syria to capture an ISIL senior leader known as Abu Sayyaf
and his wife Umm Sayyaf. During the course of the operation, Abu Sayyaf was
killed when he engaged U.S. forces.
...
Abu Sayyaf was a senior ISIL leader who, among other things, had a
senior role in overseeing ISIL’s illicit oil and gas operations – a
key source of revenue that enables the terrorist organization to carry out
their brutal tactics and oppress thousands of innocent civilians.
...
This operation was conducted with the full consent of Iraqi authorities ..
It is usual that people in the Arab language world are
identified by multiple names. "Abu al-Taym al-Saudi" might well be also known as
"Abu Sayyaf". The "Omar oilfield" may also be written as "al-Amr".
A later
update of the
Reuters/SANA version added this paragraph
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based
organisation that tracks the war, said around 19 Islamic State members had
been killed in an air strike on the oil field. Twelve of the dead were
foreign fighters, it said.
So what was this? A combined operation of U.S. and Syrian
special forces
coordinated
through Baghdad? An airstrike by either side? Or did one side, the Syrian
government or the U.S. administration, "steal" the success from the other side
for their own propaganda purpose?
We know that the story the U.S. told over the Bin Laden
killing was almost completely false. We therefore have reason to doubt the
truthfulness of the NSC statement. The Syrian SANA news agency may not be the
most accurate source either but here it was the first to announce the raid. SOHR,
while paid by the "west", has proven to be at least somewhat independent. We
will need more information before we can really stitch up the story. My bet for
now is on a combined Syrian-U.S. operation that neither side has interest in to
publicize in full.
http://www.moonofalabama.org/
See also
Syrian forces kill 40 IS militants in Deir al-Zour:
The Syrian government forces killed as many as 40 militants with the Islamic
State (IS) group, including a commander responsible
for oil-related affairs, in a "qualitative" operation
in the oil-rich province of Deir al-Zour in eastern Syria, the official Syrian
TV reported Saturday.
Boots on the ground:
U.S. Special Forces kill "top ISIS
commander" in Syria raid:
Secret Syria raid ends with death of up to 40 jihadists and capture of chief's
WIFE who trafficked Yazidis. Abu Sayyaf, the extremist group's 'Oil
Minister', was killed in a firefight in eastern Syria today by special
forces authorised by President Barack Obama, the Pentagon confirmed.
