The Pentagon has stated that it killed a frontrunner of the Islamic State group in Syria in a drone strike.
US Central Command stated in a information launch that Maher al-Agal was killed Tuesday and an unidentified senior official within the Islamic State group was severely injured. The Pentagon stated there have been no civilian casualties, although it wasn't attainable to right away verify that info.
The US carried out the strike outdoors Jindaris, a city in northwest Syria near the Turkish border.
The assault "takes a key terrorist off the sector and considerably degrades the flexibility of (IS) to plan, useful resource, and conduct their operations within the area," stated President Joe Biden in a press release.
"And, just like the US operation in February that eradicated (IS's) total chief, it sends a strong message to all terrorists who threaten our homeland and our pursuits all over the world."
The Islamic State group on the peak of its energy managed greater than 103,600 sq. kilometres stretching from Syria to Iraq and dominated greater than eight million individuals.
Whereas the group's territorial state collapsed in 2019, its leaders have turned to guerilla techniques and have been capable of "effectively restructure themselves organisationally," in line with the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for Worldwide Peace, a nonpartisan suppose tank.
The strike on al-Agal comes months after the top of the group, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, killed himself throughout a raid on his hideout by American particular forces. The US stated Al-Qurayshi blew himself up together with members of his household.
In keeping with a warfare monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, al-Agal was a former distinguished commander of the Islamic State group throughout its management of Raqqa and had since moved farther north to Afrin in 2020 beneath Turkish-backed factions.
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He was most lately a commander in a Turkish-backed faction referred to as Jaysh Al-Sharqiyyah.
US-led coalition forces have additionally focused al-Qaeda-linked militants in Syria over time. Final month, a US drone strike killed a senior chief of the Horas al-Din group, Abu Hamzah al Yemeni.
CENTCOM has stated that violent extremist organizations "proceed to current a risk to America and our allies, and ... al-Qaeda-affiliated teams have used the rebel-held enclave in northwestern Syria as a secure haven."