A senior ISIS member was killed during a raid by American forces in Syria on Friday, the US military’s Central Command said.
Iraq’s counterterrorism agency said it helped to locate the militant, who was identified as Omar Abdul-Qader, also known by his nom de guerre Abdul-Rahman Al Halabi. He was head of the extremist group’s external operations and security, it said.
Abdul-Qader was accused of overseeing attacks in a number of countries, including the bombing of Iran's embassy in Lebanon, and planning other operations in Europe and the US that were ultimately foiled through intelligence work, the Counter-Terrorism Service said.
“We will not yield in our pursuit of terrorists seeking to attack the United States, our forces, or allies and partners abroad. I commend the efforts of our skilled warfighters and all who supported them during the mission,” Centcom commander ADM Brad Cooper said in a statement announcing Abdul-Qader's death.
Adm Cooper met Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara in Damascus last week and has also visited Iraq as part of a regional tour after being appointed to head Centcom in August.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said Abdul-Qader was killed in Syria’s central province of Hama.
The Observatory’s chief, Rami Abdulrahman, said Abdel-Qader was a Syrian citizen who had been arrested in Lebanon and was later handed over to Damascus authorities when former president Bashar Al Assad was in power. He escaped after rebel forces toppled Mr Al Assad in December, and had been on the run since.
ISIS once controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq where the extremists declared a caliphate in 2014, and were known for carrying out brutal acts in both countries in addition to planning deadly attacks throughout the Middle East and the rest of the world.
The extremists were defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria two years later, but their sleeper cells remain active.
