The United States has reportedly claimed that an Islamic State (IS) member has been killed and his wife, who is also suspected of being a member of the terror group, has been captured as part of a rare ground raid launched by its forces in eastern Syria.
A statement released by the U.S. Department of Defense said that Abu Sayyaf was the group's "chief financial officer" and looked after oil and gas operations, which form an important source of revenue, for the IS, reported the BBC.
U.S. officials said that they had seized "reams of data on how IS operates, communicates and earns its money."
However, on Arabic social media, Sayyaf was not being spoken of as a known public figure.
The statement said that U.S. forces tried to capture him but he was killed after engaging them.
This is the first time the U.S. conducted a ground operation targeting IS within Syria. The offensive was authorized by President Barack Obama and was carried out by forces based in Iraq.
The U.S. said that the operation in Syria was conducted with the "full consent of Iraqi authorities," but admitted that they had not informed the Syrian government in advance.
