The U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon) announced on Tuesday the death of the leader of ISIS in Syria as a result of a drone strike carried out by U.S. forces. Central Command spokesman, Capt. Dave Eastburn, stated that Maher al-Aqal was killed while riding a motorcycle near Jindires, Syria. The operation also resulted in one of the top aides of the ISIS leader sustaining serious injuries. According to sources from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, al-Aqal was carrying a fake identity bearing the name of another person, issued by the local council in Afrin, where he worked with the Turkey-aligned faction "Army of the East."
Al-Aqal moved from the "Peace Spring" area in 2020 to the Afrin area facilitated by leaders from the "Army of the East," where he was a prominent leader of the Islamic State during the organization's control of the city of Raqqa. He is the brother of Faiz al-Aqal, who held the position of Emir of the Commission (Governance Administration) before being killed in a nearly identical incident in the city of al-Bab in June 2020, according to the observatory.
Last month, U.S. Central Command announced it had carried out a raid on a group affiliated with al-Qaeda in Syria’s Idlib province on Monday. The strike targeted "Abu Hamza al-Yemeni," one of the senior leaders of "Hurras al-Din," the terrorist organization allied with al-Qaeda.
Washington warns that ISIS is still planning to regroup and carry out attacks in the region and beyond. U.S. forces are assisting in efforts to combat the organization alongside local partners in Syria and Iraq. Dana Stroul, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East, stated that ISIS remains a threat to the region despite not controlling territory in Iraq and Syria.
