US airstrike kills ‘senior’ al Qaeda leader in Syria, CENTCOM says

by · Washington Examiner

The U.S. military killed a “senior al Qaeda leader” with a drone strike in Syria Friday, United States Central Command revealed.

Army Maj. John Rigsbee, a CENTCOM spokesman, said the strike targeted and killed Abdul Hamid al Matar and that they “have no indications of civilian casualties as a result of the strike.”

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The strike was conducted using an MQ-9 aircraft.

Rigsbee noted al Matar’s death “will disrupt the terrorist organization’s ability to further plot and carry out global attacks threatening U.S. citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians,” and he vowed that the “U.S. will continue to target members of al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations who intend to harm the U.S. homeland.”

The strike came days after a small U.S. base in al Tanf, Syria, was targeted in a “deliberate and coordinated attack,” Navy Capt. Bill Urban, another CENTCOM spokesman, told the Washington Examiner on Thursday.

The Wednesday attack “utilized both unmanned aerial systems and indirect fire,” Urban added.

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CENTCOM was not aware of any injuries to U.S. service members in the attack, a spokesperson noted, and no group immediately took credit for it.

The U.S. targeted a different al Qaeda senior leader in Idlib, Syria, last month.