CIA Launches Secret Drone Operation against ISIS in Syria: Washington Post

The Washington Post is reporting that the CIA and US Special Forces units have launched a secret operation using drones to target ISIS leaders in Syria. Citing anonymous American officials, the Post said the drone program is not part of routine military operations but is run by the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) to kill what the Pentagon calls “high value targets.” One example given was British national Junaid Hussain, who was responsible for social-media recruiting of “lone wolf” agents to carry out missions in the West, including the United States. The CIA’s Counter Terrorism Center is charged with locating and identifying ISIS heads while the role of the JSOC is to carry out the drone missions to kill them. Seal teams such as those who killed Osama Bin Laden answer to JSOC. According to the Post, spokesmen for the CIA and the U.S. Special Operations Command, which oversees JSOC, declined to comment.