US Says Killed Military Leader of Syria Al-Qaeda Affiliate

The US Army said Saturday it had killed a top military leader of Hurras al-Din, a Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda which announced its dissolution in January.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM), in charge of American forces in the Middle East, said in a statement that its forces on February 23 "conducted a precision airstrike in Northwest Syria, targeting and killing Muhammed Yusuf Ziya Talay, the senior military leader of the terrorist organization Hurras al-Din."

Since Hurras al-Din announced in late January that it was dissolving itself, US air strikes have killed several of the group's leaders, according to CENTCOM.

On February 22, it said a "precision air strike" had killed Wasim Tahsin Bayraqdar, a leader of the group which the US classifies as a terrorist organization.

American forces are in Syria as part of an international coalition created in 2014 to fight the jihadists of the Islamic State group.

After a rebel alliance led by radical Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham toppled President Bashar al-Assad and took power in Damascus on December 8, Hurras al-Din said it no longer needed to exist.

The group, including foreign jihadists, was based in mountainous northwestern Syria.