US Strike Kills Yemeni Al-Qaida-Linked Commander in Syria

A drone strike by the U.S.-led coalition in northwestern Syria killed a senior member of an al-Qaida-linked group, Syrian opposition activists and the U.S. military said Tuesday.

The attack on the suspected militant, who was riding a motorcycle at the time, came shortly before midnight on Monday — the latest in a series of strikes over the past years targeting al-Qaida-linked militants in northwestern Syria.

The U.S. Central Command said its forces conducted “a kinetic strike” in Syria’s Idlib Province, targeting Abu Hamzah al Yemeni, a senior leader of Horas al-Din group. Al Yemeni was traveling alone at the time of the strike, it said, adding that the initial review indicates no civilian casualties.

The opposition’s Syrian Civil Defense, also known as White Helmets, said the attack occurred just south of the rebel-held city of Idlib. The White Helmets said there were no other fatalities except the man on the motorcycle, adding that they have handed over the man’s body to morgue officials in Idlib.

Syrian opposition activists did not identify the slain man while the U.S. Central Command statement indicated he was a Yemeni citizen.

Members of Horas al-Din, Arabic for “Guardians of Religion,” are hardcore al-Qaida elements who broke away from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the strongest insurgent group in Idlib, the last major rebel enclave in war-torn Syria.

In June 2020, the U.S. military killed Khaled Aruri, a top Jordanian commander with Horas al-Din, also in Idlib. A drone strike in December 2019 killed a senior Horas al-Din commander, the Jordanian citizen Bilal Khuraisat, also known as Abu Khadija al-Urduni.

A U.S. airstrike killed al-Qaida’s second in command, former bin Laden aide Abu al-Kheir al-Masri, in Syria in 2017.

In February, the U.S. military killed the latest IS leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi. The first leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was also killed in a U.S. strike in Idlib, in 2019.