US kills senior Al-Qaeda leader in Syria with drone strikeA picture taken during a tour organised by the Syrian Ministry of Information shows a Syrian flag atop damaged buildings in the district of Daraa al-Balad of Syria’s southern city of Daraa on Sep 12, 2021. (Photo: AFP/LOUAI BESHARA)

The US military killed senior Al-Qaeda leader Abdul Hamid al-Matar in a drone strike in Syria on Friday (Oct 22), a US Central Command spokesman said.

“The removal of this Al-Qaeda senior leader will disrupt the terrorist organisation’s ability to further plot and carry out global attacks threatening US citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians,” US Army Major John Rigsbee said in a written statement.

The strike comes two days after a US outpost in southern Syria was attacked. Rigsbee did not say if the US drone strike was carried out in retaliation.