Did US-led forces kill the wrong man in anti-IS operation in Syria's Dumayr?

A US operation which targeted a suspected commander from the Islamic State (IS) militant group northeast of the Syrian capital Damascus last Friday, instead resulted in the death of a person with no affiliation to IS, Arabic and Syria-focused news websites have reported.

US Special Forces and Syrian security forces targeted Khaled Massoud Al-Badri, who they believed to be a senior IS operative providing intelligence to the extremist group and facilitating its forces’ movements, in the town of Al-Dumayr northeast of Damascus.

However, the Syria Weekly website, citing four "well-placed" sources, reported that Massoud was in fact working for the intelligence wing of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist rebel group that led the offensive which ousted former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

After Assad was deposed, Massoud worked for Syrian state intelligence under the authority of Interior Minister Anas Khattab, according to Syria Weekly.

When US and Syrian forces raided Massoud’s home in Al-Dumayr, they called on him to surrender, but he refused. A gun battle broke out, and he was shot in the stomach before being captured by the US and Syrian forces.

Massoud was "swiftly released" after US and Syrian forces realised that he was not an Islamic State operative, but he later died in hospital as a result of his injury, Syria Weekly reported.

Two of the sources who spoke to Syria Weekly said that Masoud’s targeting was based on "politically-motivated intelligence" provided by members of the Syrian Free Army, a US-backed faction operating in the al-Tanf near the tripoint between Syria, Jordan, and Iraq.

Members of the Bedouin Al-Badri clan to which Massoud belonged have now called for mass demonstrations to protest the incident, while also complaining to the Syrian interior ministry, reports state. The incident has sparked fears that Masoud’s killing will now complicate US-Syria relations.

The US envoy to Syria and Lebanon, Tom Barrack, had earlier celebrated the operation on the social media platform X, stating "Syria is back to our side".

Syria is reportedly due to join the international coalition against IS, with this being the fifth joint operation by US and Syrian troops against suspected IS militants since last July.

The New Arab reached out to US Central Command (CENTCOM) regarding the operation which targeted Massoud, but they said they "do not have any information to provide".