Key facts
- A senior Islamic State leader, Ali Husayn al-Ulaywi, was killed in a U.S. airstrike in northwest Syria.
- The strike occurred on Friday, as confirmed by U.S. Central Command.
- The operation is part of ongoing U.S. efforts to disrupt and eliminate terrorists.
- Syrian activists had initially reported a death from an airstrike on a motorcycle near Deir Hassan.
- Despite its territorial defeat in 2019, IS sleeper cells remain active in Syria.
A senior member of the Islamic State group, Ali Husayn al-Ulaywi, was killed in a U.S. airstrike in northwest Syria last Friday, the U.S. Central Command announced on Wednesday. The strike is part of ongoing U.S. efforts to "disrupt and eliminate terrorists seeking to attack Americans abroad or the U.S. homeland."
Syrian activists had initially reported that an airstrike on a motorcycle near the village of Deir Hassan, close to the Turkish border, had killed one person, but the identity of the target was not immediately clear. Despite its territorial defeat in Syria in 2019, Islamic State sleeper cells remain active and have claimed attacks.