Salim Abou-Ahmad, “top al-Qaeda leader” in Syria, was killed on September 20 in an airstrike near Idlib, in the northwest of the country, the US military said. Friday.
He was “responsible for planning, financing and approving trans-regional attacks” perpetrated by the jihadist organization, said a spokesman for the American Central Command (Centcom), Commander John Rigsbee, without giving any details. other details.
“To weaken international terrorist networks”
There are no indications of potential civilian casualties following the operation, he added in a statement. “This strike is part of US operations to weaken international terrorist networks and target terrorist officials who seek to attack US territory as well as its interests and allies abroad,” said the spokesperson. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) announced on September 20 that two commanders close to al-Qaeda had been killed in a drone strike by the US military. Centcom then confirmed the death of a senior jihadist network official, without giving his identity.
According to the OSDH, the raids targeted a vehicle on the road connecting Idleb to the northeastern town of Bennich, in the same province, part of which is dominated by jihadists and which still escapes the control of the Syrian regime. Part of Idleb province and segments of the neighboring provinces of Hama, Aleppo and Latakia are dominated by Hayat Tahrir al-Cham (HTS), the ex-Syrian branch of al-Qaeda. The region is also home to rebel groups and other jihadist formations allied with HTS. All these factions have already been the target of air raids from the Syrian regime, its Russian ally, but also the international anti-jihadist coalition led by the United States and the American army itself.