A woman was killed, in addition to the death and injury of ISIS members, by an International Coalition/US forces operation in the Al-Namat area on the outskirts of Ma’adan in Raqqa, Syria during the night between December 17th and 18th, 2025.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that during an airborne operation by the International Coalition with the assistance of ground forces in the town of Ma’adan, a heavy exchange of fire resulted in the death of an ISIS member, the injury/arrest of another ISIS member, in addition to the death of woman “believed to be the wife of the wanted individual” and of an approximately 14 year old minor kill by a stray bullet. The 14 year old minor was killed in a different incident in a different village and therefore has not been included in this incident (see CS2019). SOHR spoke with a source that confirmed that the Syrian Interior Ministry’s Public Security forces did not participate directly in the operation but had a role in securing and protecting the perimeter. SOHR also mentioned that the ground forces had entered the town from areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Journalist @ALI_AlSHMRRE referred to the woman killed as “R.A.” and an image by Zainab Al-Hadi reportedly shows the coffin of the woman being brought back to her family’s home village in Aleppo, later referring to her by name as Rahaf.

@DeirEzzore provided additional details, stating that the man killed was accused ISIS member Abdul Mahmoud al-Ahmad and his wife had also been killed. The operation by “joint forces” took place in the al-Naamat area on the outskirts of Ma’adan and Coalition helicopters had remained in the village until dawn reportedly.

SOHR later referred to the operation as carried out by US forces and identified Abdul Mahmoud al-Ahmad as an operative with ISIS who was working at a bakery in al-Mashtaha as a cover for his activities. At the time of reporting SN4HR stated that it was unknown whether Abdul had been killed or captured during the operation.

According to journalist @ALI_AlSHMRRE, Abdul Mahmoud al-Ahmad, also known as Abu Hamza al-Athari, was an ISIS commander in Deir ez-Zor and the Badia mourned directly by ISIS and the operation was conducted using intelligence from the Iraqi government. However, other sources such as @DeirEzzore which sometimes referred to Abdul as an ISIS member also referred to him as a “former ISIS member” and stated that two of his brothers had been killed while fighting for ISIS between 2015 to 2017. @EVzGYm35GzsMd50 specified that weapons and explosives had been found in his home.

Where sources identified a belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to the International Coalition or US forces, with some mentioning “joint forces” but without specifying the partner forces while some hinted at involvement from the SDF. SOHR specified that the body of the victim and the detainee had been taken to a US base in an area controlled by the SDF.