Drone strike takes out al-Qaida leader in Syria

Deutsche Presse-Agentur

BEIRUT — Al-Qaida’s second-in-command, who goes by the name of Abu alKhayr al-Masri, has been killed in a drone strike in northwestern Syria, a monitoring group said Monday.

A U.S. drone is believed to have carried out the strike near a military base in al-Mastoume in the countryside of the province of Idlib, Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

Followers of the newly formed militant alliance Hai’at Tahrir al-Sham (Levant Liberation Body) posted a statement saying alMasri was killed in a “Crusade coalition raid.” The alliance is led by an al-Qaida-affiliated body formerly known as the Nusra Front.

Also in the country’s northwest, at least 13 people were killed in raids believed to have been carried out by Syrian regime planes in Ariha, the Observatory said. The death toll included at least seven civilians, three of them children.

Activists in the area posted videos showing a father crying while carrying his dead 3-year-old son after being pulled out from under the rubble.

Mr. Rahman said rescue teams were still searching the rubble for survivors.

In the past two months, the U.S.-led coalition have conducted drone strikes and air raids against alQaida linked officials and targets in Idlib province.

Earlier this month, alQaida senior member Abu Hani al-Masri was killed in a series of airstrikes in Syria, according to the U.S. Defense Department.

According to the statement, strikes conducted near Idlib on Feb. 3 and 4 killed 11 al-Qaida operatives.

Al-Masri had ties to senior al-Qaida leaders, including Ayman al-Zawahiri and the late Osama bin Laden, the Pentagon statement added.

Reports of the strike came as Defense Secretary Jim Mattis gave the White House a plan to “rapidly defeat” not only the Islamic State group but also alQaida and other extremist organizations.

One organization that is affiliated with IS, Abu Sayyaf, posted a video Monday purporting to show the beheading of a 71-year-old German hostage.