With swoop on Islamic State compound, U.S. commandos seek to disrupt financing

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After weeks of planning and surveillance focused on a compound near the oilfields of eastern Syria, elite American commandos were finally given the green light to swoop in on their target – an Islamic State commander considered to have acted as the group's "chief financial officer."

Mounting a rare raid in a war-ravaged country where U.S. President Barack Obama has long been reluctant to commit "boots on the ground," the Delta Force unit flew in from Iraq under cover of darkness in the early hours of Saturday on Black Hawk helicopters and Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft.