MOSCOW, (Sputnik) — The campaign is separate from the broader US-led military offensive in Syria and Iraq. Washington is at the helm of a multinational air campaign that has been launching airstrikes on ISIL targets in Western Asia since August 2014.
The CIA-SOF killing program, which utilizes armed drones, is aimed at tracking down and eliminating suspected ISIL militants that are deemed "high-value," US officials told the Washington Post on condition of anonymity. Official CIA and SOF spokespeople declined to comment.
The focus is primarily on ISIL militant group’s leadership and agents that seek to expand the Islamist network beyond Syrian borders.
So far, the clandestine campaign accounts for only a small number of almost 2,500 strikes launched over the past year against ISIL targets by the US Air Force, according to the outlet’s sources. But officials told the newspaper that CIA-SOF is increasingly viewed as a cooperation model that could be used in future conflicts.
