The US military now believes that seven senior leaders of the Al Qaeda terrorist organization were killed in a recent US airstrike in northwestern Syria, the US Central Command said Monday.
The airstrike was conducted by US drone aircraft on October 22nd near Idlib, during a meeting of Al Qaeda members.
“The removal of these AQ-S leaders will disrupt the terrorist organization’s ability to further plot and carryout global attacks threatening U.S. citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians,” said Central Command spokeswoman Maj. Beth Riordan.
“AQ-S takes advantage of the instability in northwest Syria to establish and maintain safe havens to coordinate terrorist activities,” she added. “With our allies and partners, we will continue to target al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations.”
Last Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that a total of 14 jihadists were killed in the strike, including five foreigners and six jihadi commanders.
The British-based Observatory said the strike targeted a dinner meeting of jihadists in the village of Jakara in the area of Salqin.
