US strike kills several al-Qaeda jihadists in northwestern Syria

The US military announced Thursday, October 22, that it had carried out a strike against Al-Qaeda officials in northwestern Syria, an operation which according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) has kills fourteen, including five foreign jihadists and six commanders.

“US Forces carried out a strike against a group of senior al-Qaeda officials in Syria who had gathered near Idlib”, said Commander Beth Riordan, spokesperson for the US Army Central Command (Centcom).

“The elimination of these al-Qaeda leaders in Syria will reduce the terrorist organization’s ability to plan and carry out attacks threatening American citizens, our partners and innocent civilians”, she added in a statement.

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The American spokeswoman did not specify the number of deaths. According to OSDH, an NGO based in Great Britain, the drone strike targeted a rally of jihadists in the village of Jakara in the Salqin region. This operation took place in the province of Idlib, the last bastion hostile to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad which is home to jihadist and rebel groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Cham (HTS), the former Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda which dominates the insurgent areas.

The region welcomes thousands of foreigners

According to the director of the OSDH, Rami Abdel Rahman, five foreign nationals were among the jihadists killed Thursday but their nationality is not established. Of the six commanders killed in the strike on Thursday, two were from HTS, he said. Ebaa, the HTS propaganda organ, said a strike had targeted “A tent belonging to one of the dignitaries” in Jakara, killing several people.

The strike comes while in France the assassin of the professor killed by a Chechen Islamist for showing caricatures of Mohammed to his students was in contact with two interlocutors located near Idlib.

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The region hosts thousands of foreigners, including French, British and Chechens, who have settled there over the years, according to OSDH. After a series of victories thanks to military aid from its Russian ally, the Assad regime has regained control of around 70% of Syrian territory.

Triggered in 2011 by the repression of a popular revolt against power, the conflict has turned into a devastating war involving a multitude of regional and international actors, as well as jihadist groups. The war killed more than 380,000 people and forced millions of people to flee.

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The World with AFP