WASHINGTON: The US military said Monday it has killed a leader of the ISIL (ISIS) group in eastern Syria in a drone strike.
The strike on Friday resulted in the death of Osama al-Muhajer, said the US Central Command in a statement on Sunday.
“We have made it clear that we remain committed to the defeat of ISIS throughout the region,” General Michael Kurilla, US Central Command (CENTCOM) Chief 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 strike but coalition forces are “assessing reports of a civilian injury” adding the drones used in the attack had been harassed by Russian warplanes earlier in the day.
Friday’s strike “was conducted by the same MQ-9s [drones] that had … been harassed by Russian aircraft in an encounter that had lasted almost two hours”, Centcom said. A US commander said at the time that the 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.
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 Wednesday, three Russian jets dropped parachute flares in front of US drones, compelling them to take evasive action, Grynkewich has said, calling on Moscow to “cease this reckless behaviour”.
The US said the two separate incidents on Wednesday and Thursday involving Russian warplanes and US Reaper drones were captured on video.
Earlier this year, a diplomatic dispute emerged briefly when the US alleged that Russian jets were responsible for the downing of a Reaper drone valued at over $30 million. The drone, equipped with sensitive US intelligence-gathering technology, crashed into the Black Sea. While Moscow denied involvement, US military footage showed Russian planes manoeuvring in a manner that impeded the drone’s flight path.
Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has played a significant role in supporting the Syrian government alongside Iran. Through this, Assad has successfully reclaimed some territories lost during the early stages of the pro-democracy protests that erupted in 2011 and triggered the Syrian conflict.
However, pockets of armed opposition to Assad’s government persist, particularly in the northern rebel-held Idlib province. These regions represent the remaining bastions of resistance against the Assad regime as it seeks to solidify its control over the country.
