WASHINGTON: A day after militants beheaded an American journalist in Syria, the United States revealed that it tried recently to free a number of American hostages held in that country but failed to rescue them.

The Pentagon said the operation involved air and ground forces and was focused on a particular captor network within the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

“The United States attempted a rescue operation recently to free a number of American hostages held in Syria by ISIL,” Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, the mission was not successful because the hostages were not present at the targeted location,” Mr Kirby said.

The US media reported on Thursday that President Barack Obama agreed to send US Special Operations troops to Syria for this operation when told that the militants were keeping at least four American hostages, including the slain journalist James Foley, at one particular location. The militants moved the hostages to another location before the troops arrived.

The American troops engaged the militants in a firefight in which ISIS suffered “a good number” of casualties, the media reported. The American forces suffered only a single minor injury. The troops were able to get back on helicopters and escape.

“In this case, we put the best of the United States military in harms’ way to try and bring our citizens home,” Admiral Kirby said.

“The United States will not tolerate the abduction of our people, and will work tirelessly to secure the safety of our citizens and to hold their captors accountable,” he said.

Asked why the government chose to disclose the failed operation a day after James Foley’s beheading, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, Caitlin Hayden, said the administration never intended to disclose this operation. She said that an overriding concern for the safety of the hostages and for operational security forced the government to keep such operations secret.

“We only went public today when it was clear a number of media outlets were preparing to report on the operation and that we would have no choice but to acknowledge it,” she said.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2014