The Pentagon: A senior al-Qaeda leader was killed in a US raid in Syria
The US military announced on Friday that it had killed an al-Qaeda leader in a drone strike in Syria, two days after an attack on a military base in southern Syria used by the US-led international coalition.
"A US air strike was launched today in northwest Syria, killing a prominent Al-Qaeda leader, Abdul Hamid Al-Matar," John Rigsby, a spokesman for the US Central Command (Centcom), said in a statement.
The strike was carried out in the Suluk area of northern Syria, which is under Turkish control.
Rigsby added that there was no information available on the existence of "civilian casualties following the strike by an MQ-9 drone," referring to the aircraft known as the "Reaper."
The spokesman did not say whether the strike was in response to Wednesday's attack on the Al-Tanf military base used by the anti-jihadist coalition, located in southern Syria near the borders with Iraq and Jordan.
"Al Qaeda continues to pose a threat to the United States and our allies," Rigsby said. He added that the organization "is using Syria as a safe haven to reconfigure itself, coordinate with foreign branches, and plan operations abroad."
"The elimination of this prominent al-Qaeda leader will affect the terrorist organization's ability to plan and launch attacks against American citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians," he stressed.
At the end of September, the US military announced the killing of a prominent leader of al-Qaeda, Salim Abu Ahmed, with an air strike in the Idlib region in northwestern Syria.
He said that Abu Ahmed "was responsible for planning, financing and approving al-Qaeda's attacks across the region."
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