A black flag belonging to the Islamic State is seen close to the Syrian city of Kobani, as pictured from the Turkish-Syrian border close to the southeastern city of Suruc in Sanliurfa province, October 6, 2014. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photograph
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WASHINGTON, July 12 (Reuters) – The chief of Islamic State in Syria, one of many prime 5 leaders of the militant group, has been killed in a U.S. air strike, the U.S. army stated on Tuesday.
In a press release, U.S. Central Command stated Maher al-Agal had been killed in a drone strike in northwesten Syria and an in depth affiliate of his was severely injured.
“Intensive planning went into this operation to make sure its profitable execution. An preliminary evaluate signifies there have been no civilian casualties,” the assertion added.
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It stated al-Agal was accountable for growing ISIS networks outdoors of Iraq and Syria.
Reuters had earlier reported on the killing, citing U.S. officers.
It could be one other blow to the Islamist rebel group’s efforts to reorganize as a guerrilla pressure after shedding giant swathes of territory.
The US has roughly 900 troops in Syria, principally within the east of the nation splintered by a decade of civil struggle, though President Joe Biden’s administration has but to element its long-term plan for the eight-year-old mission.
The Syrian Civil Defence, a humanitarian group working in opposition-held areas, stated an unidentified drone focused a motorbike within the village of Khaltan within the northern countryside of the Aleppo area, killing two individuals.
The U.S. army didn’t point out a motorbike in its assertion however stated a senior ISIS official carefully related to Maher was severely injured through the strike.
In February, the highest chief of Islamic State blew himself up throughout a U.S. army raid in Syria.
On the peak of its energy from 2014-2017, Islamic State dominated over thousands and thousands of individuals and claimed duty for or impressed assaults in dozens of cities around the globe.
Its chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, declared a caliphate over 1 / 4 of Iraq and Syria in 2014, earlier than he was killed in a raid by U.S. particular forces in northwestern Syria in 2019 because the group collapsed.
The U.S.-led coalition combating Islamic State stated in mid-2019, after the group’s battlefield defeat, that it retained 14,000 to 18,000 members, together with 3,000 foreigners, although exact numbers are as elusive as ISIS itself.
“ISIS continues to signify a menace to the U.S. and companions within the area,” a U.S. Central Command spokesman stated within the assertion concerning the drone strike.
Analysts say many native fighters might have slipped again into regular life, able to re-appear when a chance emerges.
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Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali. Further reporting by Khalil Ashawi and Maya Gebeily; Enhancing by Jonathan Oatis, Howard Goller and Mark Heinrich
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