FILE - This June 10, 2017 file photo released by the U.S. Marine Corpsshows an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter provides security from above while CH-47 Chinooks drop off supplies to U.S. Soldiers with Task Force Iron at Bost Airfield, Afghanistan. When he pulled the plug on the American war in Afghanistan, President Joe Biden said the reasons for staying, 10 years after the death of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, had become "increasingly unclear.” Now that the final withdrawal is under way, questions about clarity have shifted to Biden's post-withdrawal plan. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Justin T. Updegraff, Operation Resolute Support via AP)
U.S. military says it killed al-Qaida leader in drone strike
by Associated PressThe U.S. military said it killed a senior al-Qaida leader in an airstrike Friday in northwest Syria.
Army Maj. John Rigsbee, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command, said in a statement that Abdul Hamid al-Matar was killed by a drone strike.
Rigsbee said the killing of al-Matar will disrupt al-Qaida's “ability to further plot and carry out global attacks threatening U.S. citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians." He said al-Qaida “uses Syria as a base for threats reaching into Syria, Iraq and beyond.”
The drone strike came two days after a U.S. military outpost in southern Syria was hit by a coordinated attack that included drones and rockets. U.S. officials said no American troops stationed there were injured or killed.