“The removal of these ISIS leaders will disrupt the terrorist organization’s ability to further plan and carry out attacks,” said Col. Joe Buccino, a spokesman for Central Command. The strike took place outside Jindaris in northwestern Syria, the statement said. “The removal of these ISIS leaders will disrupt the terrorist organization’s ability to further plan and carry out attacks,” Buccino added. Tuesday’s strike was part of ongoing efforts to combat ISIS, as parts of Syria and Iraq have seen the terror group’s resurgence in recent months. President Joe Biden said the killing “removes a key terrorist from the field and significantly degrades ISIS’s ability to plan, resource and conduct its operations in the region.” “Like the US operation in February that eliminated the overall leader of ISIS, it sends a powerful message to all terrorists who threaten our homeland and our interests around the world,” Biden wrote in a statement Tuesday. “The United States will be relentless in its efforts to bring you to justice.” He thanked members of the armed forces and said the strike “demonstrates that the United States does not require thousands of troops on combat missions to identify and eliminate threats to our country.” In June, the United States-led Combined Joint Task Force to Counter ISIS captured a senior ISIS leader in the country. “Hani Ahmed al-Kurdi, known as Salim, was responsible for coordinating terrorist activities throughout the region,” the coalition said in a statement. “He instructed others in the construction of explosive devices, supported the construction of improvised explosive device facilities, and facilitated attacks on US and partner forces.” It came several months after ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi was killed during a US counter-terrorism raid in northwestern Syria. The operation was the largest US raid in the country since the 2019 mission that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Last September, the military targeted a senior al-Qaeda leader near Idlib, Syria, according to a Central Command statement. A month later, the military carried out a drone strike against Abdul Hamid al-Matar, another senior al-Qaeda leader, the Central Command said. And in December, the military targeted Musab Kinan, a senior leader of the al-Qaeda affiliate Hurras al-Din, near Idlib. Central Command opened an investigation into the possibility of civilian casualties from the attack, but the Pentagon was unable to provide updates at the time. This story has been updated with additional information and a statement from President Biden.
