When US forces flew over the Syrian town of Atme, where the leader of the Islamic State [IS] group was hiding, resident Mahmoud Shehadeh mistook the sound of helicopters for a storm. What he saw as he stepped outside to check on the weather shocked him. Just half an hour into Thursday, several helicopters had surrounded a neighbouring house, their loudspeakers blaring messages to residents. “We saw aircraft flying over our heads and after ten minutes we heard them shouting (to a woman): ‘turn yourself in, the house is surrounded’,” Mahmoud told AFP, shortly after the US-led operation during wh…