Date 4 July 2014 | Result Operation failed | |
1 U.S. soldier wounded
1 Jordanian soldier wounded (unconfirmed) At least 5 militants killed Similar 2014 Hama offensive, Daraa offensive, 2014 Idlib offensive, Rif Dimashq offensive, Rif Dimashq offensive | ||
2014 american rescue mission in syria
The 2014 American rescue mission in Syria was a mission to rescue two dozen foreigners, including two American journalists, held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS or ISIL) during the Syrian Civil War, U.S. forces launched an operation in an attempt to rescue them.
Contents
Operation
On 4 July 2014, after midnight, U.S. air strikes were conducted against the ISIL military base known as the "Osama bin Laden Camp". At the same time, two dozen special operations members parachuted from helicopters near an ISIL building for high-valued prisoners. After landing on the ground, the soldiers blocked the main road towards Raqqa and assaulted the prison. However, no prisoners were found in the building. They then conducted house-to-house searches in Uqayrishah. At this time, ISIL forces from Raqqa started to arrive and a three-hour firefight ensued. During the fighting, militants also directed RPG fire at U.S. aircraft, but missed. Eventually, U.S. forces came to the conclusion that the hostages were no longer at the site and abandoned the rescue attempt. At least 5 ISIL militants were killed (other source: 8 IS members killed, including trainee leaders from Tunisia and Saudi Arabia) and a U.S soldier was wounded. Jordanian forces were also reportedly involved in the operation with one Jordanian soldier also wounded, but this was not confirmed. Later, it was reported the hostages had been moved 24 hours before the attempted rescue. It remained unclear whether the operation failed due to incorrect intelligence or if ISIL forces had been alerted in advance of the mission.
Aftermath
Over a month after the operation, the American journalist James Foley, was executed. In the following weeks and months, American journalist Steven Sotloff and aid worker Peter Kassig, as well as British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning, were all executed. ISIL also held British journalist John Cantlie, who they used for propaganda purposes.
The story of the raid was broken by Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, a group of citizen journalists exposing ISIL atrocities. The disclosure of the failed hostage rescue attempt of James Foley and Steven Joel Sotloff has been criticized by Congressman Buck McKeon, among others, claiming that carrying out similar U.S. military operations in the future would face greater risk. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said that the operation was disclosed by the White House after consultation with the Pentagon and because news media were already preparing to leak the story.