WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A leader of the Islamic State in Syria has been killed in an airstrike by the U.S. military Tuesday, leaving a big dent in the terrorist outfit's core leadership.
Maher al-Agal was one of the top five leaders of ISIS, and the leader of the dreaded terrorist outfit in Syria, according to the Pentagon. He was killed in a drone strike in Jindayris in north-west Syria.
'His death in Syria takes a key terrorist off the field and significantly degrades the ability of ISIS to plan, resource, and conduct their operations in the region,' President Joe Biden said in a statement on the successful counterterrorism operation conducted by U.S. Central Command Forces.
'And, like the U.S. operation in February that eliminated ISIS's overall leader, it sends a powerful message to all terrorists who threaten our homeland and our interests around the world,' he said, referring to the death of top ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi in a raid in northwest Syria. Qurayshi blew himself up as U.S. forces approached his compound.
This airstrike demonstrates that the United States does not require thousands of troops in combat missions to identify and eliminate threats to our country, Biden added.
The U.S. Central Command said a senior ISIS official closely associated with Maher was seriously injured during the strike. It claimed that there were no civilian casualties from the operation.
Al-Agal was responsible for aggressively pursuing the development of ISIS networks outside Iraq and Syria.
'The removal of these ISIS leaders will disrupt the terrorist organization's ability to further plot and carry out global attacks,' according to Col. Joe Buccino, a CENTCOM spokesperson.
While the group's territorial state collapsed in 2019, its leaders have turned to guerrilla tactics and been able to 'efficiently restructure themselves organizationally', according to the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a nonpartisan thinktank.
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