U.S. captures ISIS operative, ushering in tricky phase
Source: Tampa Bay Times
WASHINGTON — An elite U.S. Special Operations force has captured a significant Islamic State operative in Iraq and is expected to apprehend and interrogate a number of others in the coming months, ushering in a new and potentially fraught phase in the fight against the extremist Sunni militant group.
U.S. defense officials described the capture as a crucial development in battling the Islamic State but said it also raised questions about handling what is likely to be a growing group of detainees.
Although U.S. commandos have captured a handful of Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria in recent years, the Pentagon is faced with the prospect of detaining a larger group of captives and potentially reprising some of the darkest images of the war in Iraq, particularly the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison.
The U.S. military has largely fought the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, from the sky, and large numbers of Islamic State fighters have been killed in Iraq and Syria by U.S. airstrikes. The 200-member Special Operations team, made up mostly of Delta Force commandos, arrived in Iraq in recent weeks and is the first major U.S. force on the ground there since the United States pulled out of the country at the end of 2011.
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