ERBIL (Kurdistan Chronicle) — Four US servicemembers were injured on Thursday night during a helicopter raid targeting a senior leader of the Islamic State (IS), according to an official statement. 

US Central Command identified the target as Hamza al-Homsi, an IS senior leader who was responsible for the group’s terrorist networks in eastern Syria. 

“Last night, during a partnered US and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) helicopter raid in northeast Syrian, an explosion on target resulted in four US servicemembers and one working dog wounded,” reads the statement. 

A separate statement by CENTCOM confirmed that the injured US troops were in stable condition receiving treatment in a US medical facility in Iraq. 

“No other ISIS fighters were killed or captured on this target, however, a separate ISIS raid that same night resulted in the death of an ISIS assassination cell leader,” the CENTCOM also revealed, noting that no civilians or SDF fighters were injuring during the operations. 

However, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said another individual, who was hosting al-Homsi in the village of al-Hajna in north of Deir Ezzor, was also killed in the raid. 

Kurdistan Chronicle could not independently verify the report by the London-based war monitor. 

Also on Friday, IS insurgents ambushed a group of civilians outside Homs and killed 46. The SOHR said the victims were foraging for wild truffles in the desert when their vehicles came under IS attack. 

Syria’s state television put the death toll at 53 and noted that some people managed to escape. 

It cited hospital sources in Palmyra as saying that all bodies had gunshot wounds to the head. At least five people were wounded in the attack and they told reporters that IS had burned their cars. 

Homs province is controlled by the Syrian government and its allies, including the Iranian militias.