US says it killed military leader of Syrian Al-Qaida affiliate
The U.S. Army said Saturday it had killed a top military leader of Hurras al-Din, a Syrian branch of Al-Qaida that announced its dissolution in January.
The U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, which oversees American forces in the Middle East, said in a statement that its forces on Feb. 23 "conducted a precision airstrike in Northwest Syria, targeting and killing Muhammed Yusuf Ziya Talay, the senior military leader of the terrorist organization Hurras al-Din."
"As we have said in the past, we will continue to relentlessly pursue these terrorists in order to defend our homeland, and U.S., allied, and partner personnel in the region," said General Michael Erik Kurilla, CENTCOM commander.
Since Hurras al-Din announced in late January that it was dissolving itself, U.S. airstrikes have killed several of the group's leaders, according to CENTCOM.
On Feb. 22, it said a "precision airstrike" had killed Wasim Tahsin Bayraqdar, a leader of the group, which the U.S. classifies as a terrorist organization.
American forces are in Syria as part of an international coalition created in 2014 to fight the jihadis of the Islamic State group.
After a rebel alliance led by radical Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham toppled President Bashar al-Assad and took power in Damascus on Dec. 8, Hurras al-Din said it no longer needed to exist.
The group, including foreign jihadis, was based in mountainous northwestern Syria.
Some information in this report is from Reuters.
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