U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Sunday that American forces carried out two targeted airstrikes in Syria, killing 37 militants affiliated with ISIS (Daesh) and Al-Qaeda. The strikes targeted senior leaders of ISIS and Hurras al-Din, an Al-Qaeda affiliate.
In a September 24 airstrike in northern Syria, nine operatives were killed, including Marwan Bassam ‘Abd-al-Rauf, a senior leader of Hurras al-Din. “The successful strike against Marwan Bassam ‘Abd-al-Rauf comes a month after a similar operation that killed another Hurras al-Din leader, Abu Abd al-Rahman al Makki,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
Earlier, on September 16, CENTCOM launched a large-scale operation against an ISIS training camp in central Syria. The strike killed 28 militants, including four senior leaders of the group, the statement said.
These operations highlight ongoing U.S. efforts to target terrorist groups in Syria, where ISIS and Al-Qaeda affiliates continue to operate. Meanwhile, concerns about terrorist activity in the region have intensified, particularly after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021. The United Nations Security Council has warned of the presence of more than 20 terrorist groups, including Al-Qaeda and ISIS, in Afghanistan under Taliban rule.
