US army says it focused senior al-Qaida chief in Syria

BEIRUT (AP) – The U.S.-led coalition carried out a drone strike Wednesday in northwestern Syria focusing on a senior al-Qaida chief, the U.S. army stated.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition struggle monitor, stated the strike hit a hen farm close to the city of Harem, killing one particular person. It stated the lifeless man has not been recognized but.

The strike was the newest of a sequence of comparable assaults over the previous years which have killed senior members of the Islamic State group or al-Qaida.

The U.S. Central Command stated that shortly earlier than midday, U.S. forces performed “a unilateral strike” in northwestern Syria, focusing on a senior al-Qaida chief. It added that extra info could be offered “as operational details become available.”

U.S. Army Gen. Erik Kurilla, the highest U.S. commander for the Middle East stated the strike on Wednesday “reaffirms CENTCOM’s steadfast commitment to the region and the enduring defeat” of IS and al-Qaida.

Most of these focused over the previous years had been members of Horas al-Din, which is Arabic for “Guardians of Religion.” The group consists of hardcore al-Qaida members who broke away from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the strongest al-Qaida-linked militant group in Idlib province.

In 2017, a U.S. airstrike killed a former aide to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida’s second in command in Syria, Abu al-Kheir al-Masri.