US military says it killed al-Qaida leader in drone strike

The US military says it killed a senior al-Qaida leader in an airstrike Friday in northwest Syria.

Army Major John Rigsbee, a spokesman for US Central Command, said in a statement that Abdul Hamid al-Matar was killed by a drone strike.

Rigsbee said the killing of al-Matar will disrupt al-Qaida's “ability to further plot and carry out global attacks threatening US citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians.'' He said al-Qaida “uses Syria as a base for threats reaching into Syria, Iraq and beyond.” The drone strike came two days after a US military outpost in southern Syria was hit by a coordinated attack that included drones and rockets. US officials said no American troops stationed there were injured or killed.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)