Idlib, northwest Syria – A senior militant commander was killed Thursday in a US-led coalition drone strike on a rural road in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, a security source told +963 on Friday.
The target, identified as the foreign-born military commander of the Islamist faction Ansar al-Islam, was struck along the Harim–Barisha road. According to the source, the vehicle he was traveling in with two escorts was hit by three missiles, killing him instantly.
The operation was carried out by a coalition drone, which fired on the car in the border region that has long served as a haven for extremist groups.
Last month, on September 19, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced a separate airstrike in Syria that killed senior ISIS operative Omar Abdel Qader, whom it described as a “direct threat” to American interests. CENTCOM said Abdel Qader had been actively planning external attacks targeting the United States and its allies.
His death, the US military said at the time, marked a significant blow to ISIS’s operational planning capacity.
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“We will not yield in our pursuit of terrorists seeking to attack the United States, our forces, or allies and partners abroad,” CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper said following that strike.
