U.S. Central Command said its forces carried out a pre-dawn ground raid this week in the town of Atmeh in Syria’s Idlib province, killing a senior Islamic State figure who had been viewed by U.S. intelligence as a likely successor to lead the group in the country. No American troops were injured, according to officials cited by Reuters and CENTCOM’s statement released late Thursday. Syrian and Iraqi security sources identified the militant as Salah Numan, also known as Ali al-Iraqi or Saleh Nouman. The Iraqi national was accused of reviving Islamic State sleeper cells and managing the group’s finances. A second ISIS financier was also reported killed during the operation, though officials did not release a name. The assault began around 2 a.m. local time with helicopters, drones and U.S. Special Forces landing near residential buildings. Syrian internal-security units established a perimeter, and Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service personnel were said to have provided intelligence support. Witnesses reported the target was shot while attempting to flee. The strike is the second publicly known U.S. counter-terrorism raid in northern Syria this summer and underscores Washington’s aim to prevent an Islamic State resurgence despite the group’s loss of territory in 2019. Previous U.S. raids in Idlib eliminated ISIS leaders Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019 and Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Qurashi in 2022.