A senior al-Qaeda leader was killed in a US drone strike in Syria, the Pentagon said Friday.The strike comes two days after a base in southern Syria, used by the US-led coalition fighting ISIS, was assaulted.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“A US airstrike today in northwest Syria killed senior al-Qaeda leader Abdul Hamid al-Matar,” said Central Command spokesman Army Major John Rigsbee in a statement.There were no known casualties from the strike, he said, adding it was conducted using an MQ-9 aircraft.“The removal of this al-Qaeda senior leader will disrupt the terrorist organization’s ability to further plot and carry out global attacks,” he said.At the end of September the Pentagon killed Salim Abu-Ahmad, another senior al-Qaeda commander in Syria, in an airstrike near Idlib in the country’s northwest.He had been responsible for “planning, funding, and approving trans-regional al-Qaeda attacks,” according to Centcom.“Al-Qaeda continues to present a threat to America and our allies. Al-Qaeda uses Syria as a safe haven to rebuild, coordinate with external affiliates, and plan external operations,” Rigsbee said.The ongoing war in Syria has created a complex battlefield involving foreign armies and militias.The war has killed around half a million people since starting in 2011 with a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests.Read more:US names al-Qaeda commander killed in SyriaUS kills ‘senior al-Qaeda leader’ in strike near Syria’s Idlib
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: US says it killed senior al-Qaeda leader in Syria with drone strike
