The US recently killed 37 terrorists in Syria, including multiple senior leaders of ISIS and Hurras al-Din, an affiliate of al Qaeda, it was announced Sunday.
US Central Command revealed that it had conducted two airstrikes in the region, with one on Tuesday killing senior Hurras al-Din official Marwan Bassam, the man overseeing the terror group’s operation in Syria.
The blast killed eight other operatives of the terror group, which US CENTCOM described as a terrorist cell “with global aspirations to conduct attacks against US and Western interests.”
A week earlier, CENTCOM conducted a large-scale airstrike on a remote ISIS training camp in central Syria, killing 28 terrorists, officials said.
The blast killed at least four senior leaders, with no civilian casualties in either strike, the military stated.
“These strikes against leadership and operatives of ISIS and the al Qaeda affiliate, Hurras al-Din, represent CENTCOM’s commitment to the enduring defeat of terrorist organizations in the CENTCOM area of responsibility and our support to regional stability,” CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla said in a statement.
Along with the attacks against the Syrian-based terrorist groups, CENTCOM officials are also focused on protecting US and commercial ships traveling along the Red Sea that have become prime targets for the Iran-backed Houthi terror group.
During the attack that killed Bassam, CENTCOM also launched an interceptor missile that took out a Houthi drone targeting a ship in the Red Sea, officials said.
The Houthis have vowed to keep attacking ships in the region in solidarity with Hamas, as the war in Gaza and conflict in Lebanon all threaten to ignite an all-out war in the region.
The tense situation spurred the US to send additional troops to the Middle East and call for all Americans in Lebanon to leave the country.
