Damascus, Jul 25 (AP) A raid by US-led forces in northwestern Syria on Friday killed a senior leader in the Islamic State militant group, the US military said Friday.

The US Central Command said in a statement that it had killed IS leader Dhiya Zawba Muslih al-Hardan and his two adult sons, who were also affiliated with the group, early Friday in a raid in the town of al-Bab, in Syria's Aleppo province.

Also Read | 'South Park' Trolls Donald Trump: US President Shown Naked With Tiny Pen*s in Bed With Satan in Season 27 Premiere Episode - White House Calls Show 'Fourth-Rate'! (Watch Video).

It said the men “posed a threat to US and Coalition Forces, as well as the new Syrian Government,” adding that three women and three children at the site were not harmed.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said the raid was carried out through an airdrop of forces, the first of its kind to be carried out by the US-led coalition against IS this year, and that ground forces from both the Syrian government's General Security forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces participated.

Also Read | PM Modi Maldives Visit: India Proud To Be Most Trusted Friend of Maldives, Says Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Watch Video).

The observatory said the operation was “preceded by a tight security cordon around the targeted site, a heavy deployment of forces on the ground, and the presence of coalition helicopters in the airspace of the area.”

There was no statement from either the government in Damascus or the SDF about the operation.

Washington has developed increasingly close ties with the new Syrian government in Damascus since the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a lightning rebel offensive last year, and has been pushing for a merger of forces between the new Syrian army and the Kurdish-led SDF, which controls much of the country's northeast.

However, progress between the two sides in agreeing on the details of the merger has been slow and could be further complicated by the recent outbreak of sectarian violence in the southern province of Sweida, in which government forces joined Sunni Muslim Bedouin clans in fighting against armed factions from the Druze religious minority.

Some government forces allegedly executed Druze civilians and burned and looted their houses. The violence has increased the wariness of other minority groups — including the Kurds — toward Damascus. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)