A United States military operation in Syria last month resulted in the fatal shooting of a man who was secretly gathering intelligence on the Islamic State group, according to his family, officials, and a conflict monitor. The incident exposes the perilous complexities of the security landscape as Washington forges a new partnership with Syria's interim government.
A Deadly Mistake in Dumayr
The raid took place in the town of Dumayr, east of Damascus, in the early hours of 19 October. Residents reported being woken by the sound of heavy vehicles and aircraft. US troops, operating alongside the Syrian Free Army—a US-trained faction now reporting to Damascus—surrounded a house.
According to his mother, Sabah al-Sheikh al-Kilani, the occupant, Khaled al-Masoud, identified himself as a member of General Security, a force under Syria's Interior Ministry. The forces broke down the door and shot him before taking him away wounded. The family later recovered his body from a hospital, though the exact circumstances of his death remain unclear.
"How did he die? We don't know," his mother said. "I want the people who took him from his children to be held accountable."
The Undercover Agent and Faulty Intelligence
Contrary to initial assumptions, al-Masoud was not an IS official. Relatives and three Syrian officials speaking anonymously confirmed he had been working undercover against IS for years. Initially, he spied for the insurgent group led by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, and later for al-Sharaa's government after its establishment following the fall of Bashar Assad.
His work focused on infiltrating IS remnants in the southern desert region known as the Badiya. The family believes he was targeted due to faulty intelligence possibly provided by members of the Syrian Free Army. Representatives of the SFA did not respond to requests for comment.
Wassim Nasr, a senior fellow at the Soufan Center, stated the raid was a consequence of "the lack of coordination between the coalition and Damascus" and warned al-Masoud's death could be a significant setback in counter-IS efforts.
Political Fallout and the Path to Cooperation
The killing has not been publicly acknowledged by US or Syrian government officials, suggesting neither side wishes to disrupt their recently improved ties. Just weeks after the raid, al-Sharaa visited Washington and announced Syria would join the global coalition against IS.
This cooperation was further evidenced on Sunday when US Central Command reported that American troops and Syrian Interior Ministry forces had jointly located and destroyed 15 IS weapons caches in the south.
However, the error underscores persistent risks. The London-based monitor Airwars, which classified al-Masoud as a civilian, has recorded 52 incidents of civilian harm in coalition operations since 2020. Director Emily Tripp noted multiple instances of US-designated "mistakes," including a 2023 drone strike that killed a civilian farmer mistaken for an al-Qaida leader.
Nasr emphasised the critical need for verified intelligence, noting that feuding groups have historically used the coalition to settle scores. "That's the whole point of having a hotline with Damascus, in order to see who's who on the ground," he said.
With an estimated 2,500 IS members still active in Syria and Iraq, and fewer than 1,000 US troops operating in Syria, the pressure for effective, coordinated action remains high, making the prevention of such tragic errors a paramount concern.
