A Syrian White Helmet rescuer checks the wreckage of a car at the site of a US coalition airstrike targeting a leader of Syria’s Al-Qaeda affiliate Hurras al-Din, on a highway near the village of Batabo in northwest Syria, early on January 31, 2025. File
| Photo Credit: AFP
The U.S. military said on Sunday (February 16, 2025) it killed a member of an Al-Qaeda affiliate organization in a precision airstrike in Syria.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said it conducted the strike on Saturday “in Northwest Syria targeting and killing a senior finance and logistics official in the terrorist organization Hurras al-Din (HaD), an Al-Qaeda affiliate,” according to a statement on X.
CENTCOM did not identify its target.
The strike was conducted “to disrupt and degrade efforts by terrorists to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against civilians and military personnel” from the United States and allies, the statement continued.
On January 30, CENTCOM killed another senior operative in Hurras al-Din, Muhammad Salah al-Zabir, in an air strike.
The U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group said Hurras al-Din was founded in February 2018.
It did not publicly confirm its allegiance to Al-Qaeda until its dissolution announcement last month.
The United States designated Hurras al-Din as a “terrorist” organisation in 2019 and has offered financial rewards for information on several of its members.
“We will continue to relentlessly pursue terrorists in order to defend our homeland, and US, allied, and partner personnel in the region,” CENTCOM General Michael Erik Kurilla said in a statement.
Published – February 17, 2025 07:34 am IST
