Islamic State Foreign Operations Leader Killed in Syria

U.S. soldiers in an unspecified location in northeast Syria, November 2019. AP - Darko Bandic

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A leader of the Islamic State group, responsible for planning attacks in Europe, was killed in a US strike in Syria on Tuesday (April 4th), the US military command for the Middle East announced. The death of Khaled Ahmad al-Jabouri is expected to "temporarily disrupt the ability" of the group "to foment attacks abroad," according to a statement. The jihadist leader was killed somewhere in Syria and no civilians were killed or wounded in the raid carried out by the US military, according to the head of the US Central Command.

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With our correspondent in Beirut, Paul Khalifeh

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Even weakened, the organization remains capable of conducting operations in the region, with the will to strike beyond the Middle East. " according to the head of Centcom, General Michael Kurilla. Despite the dismantling of its self-proclaimed territorial caliphate in March 2019, the jihadist group has managed to establish itself in a vast desert territory, straddling both banks of the Euphrates.

► Read also: In Syria, the Islamic State group has rebuilt its capacity to cause harm

Hundreds of fighters are waging a bloody guerrilla war against the Syrian army and US-backed Kurdish forces in central and eastern Syria. US intelligence estimates that there are 10,000 jihadists operating in Syria and Iraq. In recent months, the radical group has stepped up recruitment, particularly in Lebanon, where dozens of young people from the north of the country have joined the organization's ranks.

In October 2019, the group's founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed during a US special operation in Syria's northwestern Idlib province. His successor, Abu Ibrahim al-Qorachi, died in a US attack in early 2022 in the same region. In December 2022, the group's third leader, Abu Hassan al-Hashimi, was killed by the Syrian army in the southern Syrian city of Deraa.

► Read also: in Syria, auxiliaries of the army kidnapped by the Islamic State group

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Read on on the same topics:

• Syria
• United States
• Terrorism