US kills ISIS leader in a drone attack in Eastern Syria
A drone strike on July 7 killed an Islamic State (ISIS) group leader in Eastern Syria, the US Central Command said in a statement on Sunday. The US Central Command said, it “conducted a strike in Syria that resulted in the death of Usamah al-Muhajir, an ISIS leader in eastern Syria," without giving any more details on al-Muhajir, the Reuters reported It used the same MQ-9 drones in the attack that had "earlier in the day been harassed by Russian aircraft in an encounter that lasted almost two hours", the statement added. "We have made it clear that we remain committed to the defeat of ISIS throughout the region," AFP reported quoting Centcom chief General Michael Kurilla as saying, using another acronym for the IS jihadist group.
"ISIS remains a threat, not only to the region but well beyond," he added. According to Centcom, no civilians were killed in the operation but coalition forces are "assessing reports of a civilian injury".
The US government has in the last year stepped up raids and operations against suspected ISIS operatives in Syria, killing and arresting various of its leaders who had taken shelter in areas under Turkey-backed rebel control after the group lost its last territory in Syria in 2019. The US-led campaign which killed former ISIS head Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, who had declared himself the "caliph of all Muslims", has since targeted its surviving leaders, many of whom are thought to have planned attacks abroad.
US military commanders say ISIS remains a significant threat within the region, however, though its capabilities have been degraded and its ability to re-establish its network weakened. Islamic State controlled one-third of Iraq and Syria at its peak in 2014.
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