Sun 09 July 2023:
The US military claims that a drone strike in eastern Syria resulted in the death of an ISIL (ISIS) group leader.
Osama al-Muhajer was killed in the strike on Friday, according to a statement released on Sunday by the US Central Command.
“We have made it clear that we remain committed to the defeat of ISIS throughout the region,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief General Michael Kurilla said, using another acronym for the ISIL armed group.
“ISIS remains a threat, not only to the region but well beyond,” he added.
According to CENTCOM, no civilians were killed in the operation but coalition forces are “assessing reports of a civilian injury”.
It said the drones used in the attack had been harassed by Russian warplanes earlier in the day.
Friday’s strike, Centcom said, “was conducted by the same MQ-9s [drones] that had … been harassed by Russian aircraft in an encounter that had lasted almost two hours”.
US drones taking part in operations against ISIL in Syria were harassed by Russian military aircraft on Thursday for the second time in 24 hours, a US commander said at the time.
Air Force Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich said the planes “dropped flares in front of the drones and flew dangerously close, endangering the safety of all aircraft involved”.
In another incident on Wednesday, three Russian jets dropped parachute flares in front of US drones, forcing them to take evasive action, Grynkewich has said, calling on Moscow to “cease this reckless behaviour”.
Assad has gained back a lot of the ground that was lost in the early phases of the Syrian crisis, which began in 2011 when the regime ruthlessly suppressed pro-democracy protesters, with the help of both Moscow and Iran.
The Idlib region in northern Syria, which is controlled by rebels, is one of the remaining strongholds of armed opposition to Assad’s regime.
The United States has roughly 1,000 troops stationed in Syria as part of global efforts to combat ISIL, which was defeated in Syria in 2019 but still retains hideouts in remote desert regions and still carries out frequent attacks.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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