US airstrike kills militant leader in Syria

The leader of the al-Qaeda-linked Guardians of Religion was killed Monday night in a US strike in northwestern Syria’s Idlib province. US Army Central Command Sentcom said in a statement that “Aba Hamza al-Yamani was riding alone on a motorcycle at the time of the strike,” stressing that early signs showed no civilians were hurt. “Removing this prominent leader will prevent al-Qaeda from attacking American citizens, against our partners and against innocent civilians around the world,” she added. CNN quoted an official familiar with the operation as saying the United States was “fully confident” that Abu Hamza al-Yamani was killed in the drone strike. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which includes a wide network of activists on the ground, confirmed the killing of a Yemeni in a US operation against him before midnight on the road linking the city of Idlib and the city of Kaminas (southeast of Idlib). ). The US forces managed to carry out several operations in the province of Idlib, in particular, two ISIS leaders, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, were killed in October 2019, and Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi was killed on February 3 in their hideouts.