The US military announced on Friday, October 22, that it had killed an al-Qaeda leader in a drone strike in Syria, two days after the attack on a base in southern Syria used by the anti-jihadist coalition led by the United States. United.
“An American airstrike carried out today in northwestern Syria killed top al-Qaida leader Abdul Hamid al-Matar”, said Commander John Rigsbee, a spokesperson for the US Army Central Command (Centcom) in a statement.
The attack was carried out in the Soulouk region in northern Syria under Turkish control. “We saw no sign of civilian casualties as a result of the strike, which was carried out by an MQ-9 drone”, he said in reference to the armed drone nicknamed “Reaper” (” mower “ in English).
The spokesman did not say whether it was retaliation after Wednesday’s attack on the Al-Tanf base, used by the anti-jihadist coalition near the Syrian borders with Jordan and Iraq, which did not make a victim. According to Centcom, this attack “Deliberate and coordinated” had been carried out with drones and artillery fire.
Syria, al-Qaida fallback base
“Al-Qaida continues to pose a threat to the United States and our allies”, he simply indicated. The group “Uses Syria as a fallback base to reconstitute itself, coordinate with its affiliates and plan operations abroad”.
“The elimination of this top al-Qaida leader will affect the ability of the terrorist organization to plan and carry out attacks against American citizens, our partners and innocent civilians”, he added.
The Pentagon had eliminated at the end of September another “Senior al-Qaida leader” in Syria, Salim Abou-Ahmad, during an airstrike near Idlib, in the north-west of the country.
It was “Responsible for planning, financing and approving trans-regional attacks” perpetrated by the jihadist organization, according to Centcom.
Some 900 US troops remain deployed in northeastern Syria, where they continue to cooperate with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and at the Al-Tanf base in the south, on the borders of Iraq and Jordan.