SOHR: US names Al-Qaeda commander killed in Syria

The US military on Friday named the senior Al-Qaeda commander killed in an airstrike in the Idlib region of northwest Syria on September 20 as Salim Abu-Ahmad.

The drone strike targeted a vehicle on the road from Idlib city to Binnish, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which said two jihadist commanders died.

US Central Command acknowledged killing an Al-Qaeda official at the time, but did not name him.

In a statement on Friday, Centcom spokesman John Rigsbee said Salim Abu-Ahmad “was responsible for planning, funding, and approving trans-regional Al-Qaeda attacks.”

“There are no indications of civilian casualties as a result of the strike,” the statement added.

The Idlib region is dominated by Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate, but rebels and other jihadists are also present.

Jihadist factions have been the target of Syrian, Russian, US and international coalition strikes in the past.

 

 

Source: France 24