Washington: Senior al-Qaeda leader was killed in a US drone attack in Syria, said the Pentagon Friday.
The strike came two days after the base in Southern Syria, which was used by a US coalition which was fighting the group of Islamic countries, attacked.
“A US air strike today in Northwest Syria killed Senior Leader of Al-Qaeda Abdul Hamid Al-Matar,” said Army Central Command spokesman John Rigsbee in a statement.
There were no known victims from the strike, he said, adding it done by using MQ-9 aircraft.
“The elimination of senior al-Qaeda leaders will disrupt the ability of terrorist organizations to continue the 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 air strike near Idlib in the northwest of the country.
He is responsible for “planning, funding, and approving the Trans-Regional Al-Qaeda attacks,” according to Centcom.
“Al-Qaeda continues to present threats to America and our allies.
Al-Qaeda uses Syria as a safe place to rebuild, coordinate with external affiliates, and plan external operations,” Rigsbee said.
The ongoing war in Syria has created a complex battlefield involving foreign troops, militias and jihadists.
The war has killed around half a million people from 2011 with brutal crackdown in anti-government protests.