The US military killed an Islamic State (IS) commander in an airstrike in northwestern Syria on June 10. The commander, who was identified as Rakhim Boev, was involved in planning attacks against the US and its allies outside of Syria.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the strike that killed Boev on X on June 12. It described Boev as “a Syria-based ISIS official who was involved in planning external operations threatening U.S. citizens, our partners, and civilians.”
The Syrian Civil Defense Organization, also known as the White Helmets, claimed that two separate airstrikes killed two people in Idlib on June 10. However, CENTCOM only announced one strike. “An unidentified individual was killed with a missile attack from an unidentified drone that targeted a motorcycle on the Sarmada-Bardaqli road,” the Syrian Civil Defense Organization said about one of the strikes on its X account.
In a separate statement, the Syrian Civil Defense Organization announced that “one unidentified individual was killed, and 4 unidentified individuals were wounded in a missile attack from an unidentified drone that targeted a vehicle that had 4 people.” The location of the airstrike was Atima in the Idlib Governorate. It appears that Boev was killed in this strike, as the photo accompanying the CENTCOM statement on X shows a destroyed Kia car or truck.
Muhammad al-Ibrahim, a “researcher in Sharia politics and international law,” reported on X that Hani Jumaa al Hammoud was killed in the strike near Bardaqli and claimed that he worked for the Syrian Ministry of Defense. Hammoud was a resident of Atarib in Aleppo’s western countryside.
The same X account later claimed Syria’s General Security Services arrested Hammoud’s family in the village of Batabo in Idlib Governorate. An individual who has the same name was reportedly one of the many soldiers within Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian Arab Army who defected in the early days of the Syrian Civil War. He joined the Free Syrian Army in 2012.
US strikes Islamic State as operations in Syria wind down
The Trump administration has begun the process of reducing the more than 2,000 US troops in the country to an estimated 500 soldiers, The New York Times reported in April. At least three of the eight bases in northeastern Syria are being closed; it is unclear how many will remain open. The drawdown has taken place as the Trump administration has recognized Abu Mohammad al Jolani, the former head of Al Qaeda’s branch in Syria who now goes by the name of Ahmad al Sharaa, as the president of Syria after he deposed longtime dictator Bashar al Assad on December 7, 2024.
The US military contingent is in Syria as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the multinational effort to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. US troops have partnered with Kurdish forces known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is primarily comprised of Syrian elements of the Kurdistan Workers Party, a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Despite the US drawdown in Syria, CENTCOM and its SDF ally continue to target the Islamic State. For example, during a joint operation between May 21–22, CENTCOM and SDF forces captured an ISIS operative near Deir ez Zur. However, with a reduced US presence in Syria, it is likely that operations against the Islamic State will be more difficult to execute.
