The U.S. military announced on Friday that it killed a leader of Al-Qaeda in a drone strike in Syria, two days after an attack targeted a military base in southern Syria used by the international coalition led by the United States. John Rigsby, a spokesman for the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), stated in a statement that "an American airstrike conducted today in northwest Syria resulted in the death of senior Al-Qaeda leader Abdul Hamid al-Matar." The strike was executed in the Sluq area of northern Syria, which is under Turkish control.
Rigsby added that there is no information indicating the presence of "civilian casualties following the strike carried out by a (MQ-9) drone," referring to the drone commonly known as "Reaper." The spokesman did not specify whether the strike was a response to the attack on Wednesday against the al-Tanf military base, which is used by the anti-jihadi coalition and is located in southern Syria near the borders with Iraq and Jordan.
Rigsby stated that "Al-Qaeda still poses a threat to the United States and our allies." He further noted that the organization "uses Syria as a safe haven to reconstitute itself and coordinate with external branches and plan operations abroad." He confirmed that "eliminating this prominent Al-Qaeda leader will impact the terrorist organization's ability to plan and carry out attacks against American citizens and (against) our partners and innocent civilians."
The U.S. military announced at the end of September the elimination of the senior Al-Qaeda leader Salim Abu Ahmad in an airstrike in the Idlib area of northwest Syria. It stated that Abu Ahmad "was responsible for planning, financing, and approving Al-Qaeda attacks across the region."
