The US said an air attack in north-western Syria killed an Al Qaeda-affiliated leader who was linked to an ISIS member responsible for a deadly ambush of American personnel last month.
US Central Command (Centcom) on Saturday said that the strike, carried out a day earlier, had killed Bilal Hasan Al Jasim who was “directly connected with the ISIS gunman who killed and injured American and Syrian personnel” in Palmyra in mid-December.
“The death of a terrorist operative linked to the deaths of three Americans demonstrates our resolve in pursuing terrorists who attack our forces,” Centcom commander Admiral Brad Cooper said in the statement.
Two US soldiers and an interpreter were killed in the ISIS ambush on December 13. Since then, American forces have expanded their operations against the extremist group, carrying out a series of large-scale strikes in the country.
The operation, Hawkeye Strike, was launched in response to the ISIS attack and has resulted in more than 100 infrastructure and weapons sites targeted, Centcom said. More than 300 ISIS members have been captured and more than 20 killed in the past year, it added.
Syria has been co-operating with a US-led coalition against ISIS, reaching an agreement in November when President Ahmad Al Shara visited the White House.
ISIS used to control large areas of land in Syria and neighbouring Iraq but while the group has been largely territorially defeated, it still continues to launch attacks from pockets of fighters. The US supported the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the fight against the extremist group.
The latest US strikes come at a time of clashes between the Syrian army and the SDF amid faltering talks to integrate the Kurdish forces into state institutions.
