US drone strike kills prominent ISIS leader in Syria

Middle East, News, US July 13, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

The U.S. military killed ISIS leader Maher al-Agal and injured his associate in a drone strike operation on July 12, 2022, outside Jandaris, a small town in Syria’s Aleppo region.

According to a statement released by the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), Maher al-Agal was killed in a drone strike outside the town of Jandaris in northwest Syria, and ‘seriously injured’ another prominent figure from the ISIS leadership during the strike. However, the statement did not name the second ISIS official.

Maher al-Agal was one of the top five ISIS leaders. It is believed that he played an important role in developing the ISIS network outside of Syria and Iraq.

CENTCOM Spokesperson Col. Joe Buccino said that “this strike reaffirms CENTCOM’s steadfast commitment to the region and the enduring defeat of ISIS. The removal of these ISIS leaders will disrupt the terrorist organization’s ability to further plot and carry out global attacks.”

Buccino further added, “ISIS continues to represent a threat to the U.S. and partners in the region, CENTCOM maintains a sufficient and sustainable presence in the region and will continue to counter threats against regional security.”

According to CENTCOM’s statement, “extensive planning went into this operation to ensure its successful execution. An initial review indicates there were no civilian casualties.”

The Syrian Civil Defence also reported a drone strike around the same location where the U.S. military claims to have targeted the ISIS leader. According to the reports from the Syrian Civil Defense, an unidentified drone attack was carried out that targeted a motorcycle in the village of Khaltan, in the Aleppo region, resulting in the death of two people. The CENTCOM, however, did not mention any motorcycle in its statement.

The U.S. military has around 900 soldiers posted in Syria, mostly in the eastern part of the country. Since taking office, President Joe Biden has not devised or announced a detailed plan about the U.S. military’s future plans in Syria, however, the U.S. forces have conducted aerial and ground operations in the country to remove ISIS militants from the battlefield.

In February 2022, U.S. forces conducted a counterterrorism operation in northwestern Syria near Turkey’s border and killed ISIS global leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, also known as Hajji Abdullah.

^{President Biden, Vice President Harris, and members of the President’s national security team observing the counterterrorism operation on February 3, 2022. The military operation killed Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi. (Image Credit: @WhiteHouse/Twitter)}

At the peak of its power in 2014, ISIS was ruling more than one million people in Syria and Iraq while claiming responsibility for several attacks in dozens of cities all around the world. ISIS leader Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi declared his caliphate over Iraq and Syria and vowed to expand his caliphate all over the world.

A U.S.-led military coalition began airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq in August 2014. The coalition later expanded its campaign to Syria and named it ‘Operation Inherent Resolve’. A major blow to ISIS came in 2019 when its leader Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi was killed in an operation conducted by the U.S. Special Forces in the northwest part of Syria. Since then, many of the ISIS operations have been confined to a few parts of Syria while most of its fighters have slipped back into normal lives. However, many analysts believe that ISIS still poses a great threat to the U.S. and its allies and it would reemerge as soon as an opportunity presents itself.