The Pentagon has confirmed that senior Al Qaeda leader Salim Abu-Ahmad was killed in a US drone strike in Syria, claiming no civilians were harmed after a bungled strike in Afghanistan killed 10 innocent people, including seven children.
The strike on Abu-Ahmad was carried out on September 20 in the Idlib province of Syria, where a vehicle traveling on a rural road in rebel-controlled territory was struck, but the identity of the target was not confirmed until Thursday.
US Central Command did not immediately respond to an inquiry from DailyMail.com regarding what aviation asset was used in the strike.
‘Salim Abu-Ahmad was responsible for planning, funding, and approving trans-regional al-Qaeda attacks,’ Army Maj. John Rigsbee, a CENTCOM spokesman, told Military Times on Thursday.
‘There are no indications of civilian casualties as a result of the strike. This strike continues U.S. operations to degrade international terrorist networks and target terrorist leaders who seek to attack the U.S. homeland and its interests and allies abroad,’ he added.
Little is know about Abu-Ahmad, whose name does not seem to appear on US or EU sanctions lists of known terrorists.
-Advertisement-
The strike in Syria was conducted hours before the Pentagon said that an Air Force general officer would conduct an investigation into the bungled August 29 drone strike in Afghanistan that killed an innocent aid worker and seven children.
Drone strikes on foreign terror suspects have generated controversy for years, garnering both support and condemnation.
Former President Donald Trump touted his January 2020 strike killing Iranian General Qasem Soleimani as one of his signature achievements in office.
Following the strike in Syria last week, Syria’s Civil Defense team, known as White Helmets, said an unidentified body was lifted from the car along the Idlib-Binnish road east of Idlib province.
The charred vehicle, split in the middle, lay on the side of the rural road in an orchard.
Mail Online
We do everything possible to supply quality news and information to all our valuable readers day in, day out and we are committed to keep doing this.
Your kind donation will help our continuous research efforts.
-Advertisement-
-Want to get the news as it breaks?-
