According to the US military, Abdul Hamid al-Matar was targeted by a drone in the north of the country. This is the second leader of the terrorist group eliminated in Syria in less than a month.
Le Monde with AFP
The US Army announced, Friday, October 22, have killed an al-Qaeda leader in a drone strike in Syria, two days after the attack against a Syrian southern basis used by the anti-discharged coalition led by the United States.
“An American air strike today in northwestern Syria killed Al-Qaida Abdul Hamid Al-Matar leader,” said Commander John Rigsbee, a command spokesman. central of the US military (Centcom) in a statement.
The attack was conducted in the Soulouk region, in northern Syria under Turkish control. “We did not see any sign of civilian casualties as a result of the typing, which was conducted by a MQ-9 drone,” he said with reference to the armed drone nicknamed “Reaper” (“The Moucher” in English).
The spokesperson did not specify whether it was retaliation after the al-Tanf basis attack, used by the anti-dwelling coalition near the Syrian borders with Jordan and the Iraq, who did not make a victim. According to Centcom, this “deliberate and coordinated” attack had been conducted with artillery drones and fire.
Syria, base of fallback for al-Qaida
“Al-Qaida continues to represent a threat to the United States and our allies,” he simply indicated. The group “uses Syria as a base of falling to reconstitute, coordinate with its affiliates and plan operations abroad”.
“The elimination of this al-Qaida executive will affect the capacity of the terrorist organization to plan and lead attacks against American citizens, partners and innocent civilians,” he added.
The Pentagon had eliminated another “al-Qaida senior” in Syria, Salim Abu-Ahmad, during an aerial shot near Idlib, in the northwestern country.
He was “responsible for the planning, financing and approval of trans-regional attacks” perpetrated by the jihadist organization, according to Centcom.
Some 900 US soldiers remain in Northeastern Syrian, where they continue to cooperate with the Syrian Democratic Forces (FDS), and on the basis of Al-Tanf in the South, the confines of Iraq and Jordan.