ISIS leader killed in strike by US forces in north-west Syria
A senior ISIS leader has been killed in a US military strike in Syria.
Khalid Al Jabouri died in the attack in the north-west of the country, US Central Command said.
No civilians were killed or wounded, it said.
Al Jabouri planned ISIS attacks in Europe and developed the group’s leadership network. His death will “temporarily disrupt the organisation’s ability to plot external attacks”, the command said.
Syria expert Aymenn Al Tamimi told The National that he doubted the “immediate picture” of ISIS operations in Iraq and Syria would change after the strike.
“The group has survived many losses of leading figures,” said Mr Al Tamimi, who is an editor at Castlereagh Associates, a Middle East-focused consultancy group.
“I would say the group still remains a relatively low-level insurgency problem in Iraq and Syria. This has been the case since 2019.”
Mr Al Tamimi said Al Jabouri was not well known outside the terrorist group.
“Details about the leadership are extremely hard to come by for observers of the movement,” Mr Al Tamimi said.
The US regularly carries out anti-terrorism operations as leader of the global coalition to defeat ISIS.
About 900 US troops are in Syria as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the combined task force assisting the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the fight against ISIS remnants. Four US soldiers were wounded in a raid in which senior ISIS leader Hamza Al Homsi was killed in February.
The troops and a military dog were injured in an explosion triggered by Al Homsi, who was said to have led the terrorist network in eastern Syria.
ISIS official Ibrahim Al Qahtani was also killed by the US
in February. Central Command said he planned attacks on detention centres that held ISIS prisoners in northern Syria.
Despite being defeated in Syria in 2019, ISIS continues to wage a low-level insurgency across northern Iraq and Syria, where it controlled territories from 2014.
The group’s attacks in Iraq have reached a record low, according to California-based analyst Joel Wing, who has tracked levels of violence in the country since 2008.
US commanders say Washington’s presence in Syria is “worth the risk” to ensure an enduring defeat of ISIS.
“ISIS continues to represent a threat to the region and beyond,” Gen Michael Kurilla, chief of Central Command, said yesterday.
“Though degraded, the group remains able to conduct operations within the region with a desire to strike beyond the Middle East.”
ISIS “has a clear succession plan and has continued to elevate other members to important positions”, said Colin Clarke, head of research at the Soufan group, a US think tank on international security.
The group “still very much has the intent to strike Europe and to attack the West, but it’s struggling somewhat with the capability part of that equation”, he told AFP.
A top general has warned that the terrorist group could return “within one to two years” if US troops leave Syria.
The group often carries out attacks against the Syrian Democratic Forces coalition and both Kurdish and federal security forces in neighbouring Iraq, where it has taken advantage of a security vacuum in disputed territory.
ISIS prison detainees and residents of Al Hol camp in north-east Syria have also staged riots and attacks against SDF guards.