A prominent al-Qaeda leader was killed in a US drone strike in Syria
The US Department of Defense (Pentagon) said, on Friday, that a prominent Al-Qaeda leader was killed in a US drone strike in Syria.
The strike could come two days after an attack on a base in southern Syria used by the US-led coalition to fight ISIS.
"Today's US airstrike in northwest Syria killed prominent al-Qaeda leader Abdul Hamid al-Matar," Central Command spokesman Major John Rigsby said in a statement.
He also said that there were no known casualties in the strike, adding that it was carried out using an MQ9 aircraft.
He also said that "isolating this prominent al-Qaeda leader will disrupt the terrorist organization's ability to further plot and carry out global attacks."
At the end of September, the Pentagon killed Salim Abu Ahmed, another prominent al-Qaeda leader in Syria, in an air strike near Idlib in the northwest of the country.
According to Central Command, he was responsible for "planning, financing, and approving trans-regional al-Qaeda attacks."
Al Qaeda remains a threat to America and our allies. Al-Qaeda uses Syria as a safe haven to rebuild, coordinate with foreign affiliates, and plan foreign operations.
The ongoing war in Syria has created a complex battlefield involving foreign armies, militias, and jihadists.
The war has claimed nearly half a million lives since the beginning of 2011 with the brutal suppression of anti-government protests.