Beirut — A drone strike by the U.S.-led coalition in northwestern Syria killed a senior member of an al Qaeda-linked group, Syrian opposition activists and the U.S. navy mentioned Tuesday.
The assault on the suspected militant, who was using a bike on the time, got here shortly earlier than midnight on Monday - the most recent in a sequence of strikes over the previous years focusing on al Qaeda-linked militants in northwestern Syria.
The U.S. Central Command mentioned its forces performed "a kinetic strike" in Syria's Idlib province, focusing on Abu Hamzah al Yemeni, a senior chief of Horas al-Din group. Al Yemeni was touring alone on the time of the strike, it mentioned, including that an preliminary evaluate indicated no civilian casualties.
The opposition's Syrian Civil Protection, often known as the White Helmets, mentioned the assault occurred simply south of the rebel-held metropolis of Idlib. The White Helmets mentioned there have been no fatalities aside from the person on the motorbike, including that they've handed over his physique to morgue officers in Idlib.
Syrian opposition activists did not establish the slain man, whereas the U.S. Central Command assertion indicated he was a Yemeni citizen.
Members of Horas al-Din, Arabic for "Guardians of Faith," are hardcore al Qaeda parts who broke away from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the strongest rebel group in Idlib, the final main insurgent enclave in war-torn Syria.
In June 2020, the U.S. navy killed Khaled Aruri, a prime Jordanian commander with Horas al-Din, additionally in Idlib. A drone strike in December 2019 killed a senior Horas al-Din commander, the Jordanian citizen Bilal Khuraisat, often known as Abu Khadija al-Urduni.
CENTCOM mentioned in its assertion that violent extremist organizations, together with al Qaeda-aligned organizations equivalent to Horas al-Din, "proceed to current a menace to America and our allies." It added that al Qaeda-aligned militants use Syria as a secure haven to coordinate with their exterior associates and plan operations exterior of Syria.
"The elimination of this senior chief will disrupt al Qaeda's skill to hold out assaults in opposition to U.S. residents, our companions, and harmless civilians all over the world," CENTCOM mentioned.
Brett McGurk mentioned on the time when he was the highest U.S. envoy for the coalition battling the ISIS that Idlib is the biggest al Qaeda haven since Osama bin Laden's days in Afghanistan.
A U.S. airstrike killed al Qaeda's second in command, former bin Laden aide Abu al-Kheir al-Masri, in Syria in 2017.
In February, the U.S. navy killed the most recent IS chief, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, in Idlib province close to the Turkish border. The primary chief of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was additionally killed in a U.S. strike in Idlib, in 2019.