Islamic State leader Osama al-Muhajer killed in drone strike: US military

Washington: The US military has claimed that an ISIS leader was killed in a drone strike in eastern Syria, Al Jazeera reported. Osama al-Muhajer was killed in the attack on Friday, according to a statement issued by US Central Command on Sunday. “We have made it clear that we are committed to the defeat of ISIS across the region,” said Michael Kurilla, head of US Central Command (Centcom).

“ISIS continues to be a threat not only to the region but beyond,” he said. CENTCOM also claimed that no civilians were killed in the operation, but coalition forces are “increased by reports of civilian injuries.” According to Al Jazeera, it was also said that the drone used for the attack had been harassed by Russian warplanes earlier in the day.

On Friday’s attack, CENTCOM said it was carried out by “the same MQ-9s (drones) that … were harassed by Russian aircraft in an encounter that lasted approximately two hours.” Russian military aircraft harassed US drones participating in operations against ISIL in Syria for the second time in 24 hours on Thursday, a US commander reported at the time.

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In a report published in Al Jazeera, Air Force Lieutenant General Aleksas Grinkevich said, “The planes dropped flares in front of the drones and flew in a dangerous manner, putting the safety of all aircraft involved at risk.” Grinkevich has said that three Russian jets dropped parachute flares in front of US drones on Wednesday, forcing them to flee, and has urged Moscow to “stop this reckless behaviour”.

American Reaper drones and Russian airplanes were involved in two separate incidents on Wednesday and Thursday, according to video footage released by the US. A diplomatic row erupted earlier this year when the US alleged that Russian jets were to blame for downing a US$30 million Reaper drone, which was loaded with sensitive US spying technology and was operating over the Black Sea. Had been.

Although Moscow denied that its jets were to blame for a drone that crashed into the water in March, US military video showed Russian planes performing maneuvers to intercept the drone’s flight path, according to Al Jazeera . In Syria, the administration of President Bashar al-Assad considers Russia an important ally.

Assad has recovered much of the ground lost in the early stages of the Syrian crisis, which began in 2011 when the regime brutally 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 bastions of armed opposition to Assad’s regime.

The United States has about 1,000 troops stationed in Syria as part of the global effort to combat ISIL, which has been decimated in Syria in 2019 but still maintains bases in remote desert areas, Al Jazeera reports. And still keep attacking from time to time.