"It was just after midnight on July 4 when at least two dozen US Delta Force commandos arrived on heavily armed Black Hawk helicopters in Akrishi, a small town near the eastern Syrian city of Raqqa on the bank of the Euphrates River. Before they landed to search for American hostages including journalist James Foley, they destroyed a crucial target: Anti-aircraft weapons at a jihadist base about 5km southeast of the city, a stronghold of Islamic State militants seeking to build a monolithic Islamic state."

... "A Syrian source close to the Islamic State told Reuters that the militants had been tipped off to the planned operation when Americans were seen asking about the hostages in the Turkish city of Antakya, about 19 kilometres from the Syrian border.

''The Americans were looking for their hostages and desperately looking for any information,'' said this person, who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity.

''They met people in Antakya and asked questions. Afterwards, the operation became expected. The [Islamic] State anticipated the operation and took precautions. They expected it and that is why they have probably changed the location of the hostages.''"