By Al-Fassel | 2024-08-26

The senior leader of an al-Qaeda linked group who was "responsible for overseeing terrorist operations from Syria" was killed in Idlib province August 23 in a "targeted kinetic strike," the US military said.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces killed Hurras al-Deen senior leader Abu-Abd al-Rahman al-Makki, who was a member of the group's Shura council, it said.

"Hurras al-Deen is an al-Qaeda affiliate based in Syria that shares al-Qaeda's global aspirations to conduct attacks against US and Western interests," it said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which "verified" al-Makki's death, said a drone strike on a motorcycle in southern rural Idlib had killed the Hurras al-Deen leader, who it said was a Saudi national.

Al-Makki "was on his motorcycle on the road between Eihsem and al-Barrah towns in Jabal al-Zawiya area in southern Idlib countryside" when he was targeted with a drone, the Observatory said.

His body was pulverized in the attack, it said.

"CENTCOM remains committed to the enduring defeat of terrorists in the CENTCOM area of responsibility who threaten the United States, its allies and partners, and regional stability," said CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla.

The US military has around 900 troops in Syria as part of the international coalition against the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS).

US forces periodically carry out strikes in Syria targeting militants from ISIS and other extremist groups that are deemed to pose a threat.