WASHINGTON — The Defense Department said Thursday that the ISIS leader killed in an overnight U.S. military raid in Syria was "a man we should all be happy is no longer walking on the face of the Earth."
A U.S. special operations team that the Defense Department is not identifying landed in helicopters and assaulted a house in a rebel-held corner of Syria. There, after a two-hour firefight, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi was killed.
As far as collateral damage, the DOD said avoiding civilian harm was "baked into the plan" and the Pentagon said it is only aware at this time of three unrelated civilian casualties.
"The calculated effort of our forces succeeded in protecting more than 10 women, children, and babes," said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby. "These efforts included a deliberate decision by the President to execute a raid on the location as opposed to an airstrike."
Kirby said the raid did considerable harm to ISIS.
"They are leaderless today," he said. "And that's a significant blow. This is not something we believe ISIS is going to be just able to get over real quickly and real easily."
But, Kirby added, "They are still a threat. Nobody is taking a victory lap here."
In a tweet, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, "I am immensely proud of the U.S. forces who conducted the raid."
House Armed Services Committee Vice Chair Elaine Luria (D, VA-02) applauded the operation.
She tweeted: "Last night's operation should serve as a reminder to terrorists around the world that the United States will not tolerate any attempt to harm our citizens or interests at home or abroad."
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) said in a tweet: "President Biden promised that ISIS leaders responsible for the death of 13 U-S troops in Kabul on August 26 would pay the price. Our troops protect us every day and we owe them thanks."
Senate Armed Services Committee Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island) said in a statement that the raid “dealt a significant blow to ISIS.”
Rep. Adam Smith (D-Washington), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the victory was thanks to the “leadership of the Biden-Harris administration.”
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Service Committee, said, “This single operation is not a substitute for an effective, comprehensive counterterrorism plan."
The Pentagon said it's going to look into whether any action it took in the raid led to unnecessary loss of life. But as of now, there is no formal investigation underway.
There were no U.S. casualties, although a helicopter that was no longer able to fly was deliberately destroyed by U.S. forces.