US soldiers, alongside members of the Syrian Free Army (SFA)—a group trained by Washington that previously fought against the regime of former president Bashar al-Assad—launched a pre-dawn raid on 19/10 in Dumayr town, east of the capital Damascus. Their objective was to track down high-ranking members of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) militant group.

However, during the operation, they mistakenly shot Khaled al-Masoud, an undercover agent secretly gathering intelligence on IS. He later died, Syrian officials and family members revealed on 5/12.

Sabah al-Sheikh al-Kilani, al-Masoud's mother, recounted that US soldiers surrounded the house where he lived with his wife and 5 daughters. Despite al-Masoud identifying himself as an agent of the Syrian Interior Ministry's joint security forces, the US soldiers broke down the door, severely wounded him with gunfire, and then took him away.

Khaled al-Masoud. *Photo: AP*

Syrian security officials later instructed the family to go to the hospital to retrieve al-Masoud's body. The exact circumstances of al-Masoud's death remain unclear, but his family suspects he was targeted due to false information provided by the SFA.

A representative for the SFA has not commented on the information. The Syrian Ministry of Defense, the Syrian Ministry of Interior, and US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack all declined to comment.

Al-Masoud's cousin stated that he had worked with Ahmed al-Sharaa's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) forces before the collapse of former president Bashar al-Assad's regime. Subsequently, he moved from Idlib province to Dumayr to work for the new government's security agency.

Two Syrian security officials and one political official confirmed that al-Masoud worked for Syria's interim government security agency. Two of these individuals added that he had been involved in the fight against IS.

Media outlets reported that the US had captured a high-ranking IS member during the October raid. However, US Central Command (CENTCOM), the agency responsible for US military operations in the Middle East, has not issued any related announcements.

Wassim Nasr, an expert with the New York-based Soufan Center consultancy, stated that al-Masoud's death "could be a major setback in the effort to counter IS". Nasr added, "Mr. al-Masoud had infiltrated the remnants of IS operating in the southern Syrian desert."

It remains unclear whether anyone intentionally provided false information during the 19/10 raid. According to Nasr, rival groups in Syria sometimes exploit the US-led coalition to exact revenge on each other.

"The raid targeting al-Masoud was a consequence of a lack of coordination between the coalition and the Syrian government", Nasr stated. "The US needs to establish a hotline with Syria to identify individuals on the ground."

Nguyen Tien (According to AP, AFP)