US kills ISIS chief in Syria utilizing MQ-9 Reaper drones | World News
[ad_1]
A US drone strike has killed an Islamic State group chief in Syria after Russian warplanes harassed MQ-9 drones over the war-torn nation, the US Central Command mentioned Sunday.
The strike on Friday resulted within the demise of Osama al-Muhajer, IS chief in japanese Syria, Centcom mentioned in a press release.
"Now we have made it clear that we stay dedicated to the defeat of ISIS all through the area," Centcom chief Common Michael Kurilla was quoted as saying, utilizing one other acronym for the IS jihadist group.
"ISIS stays a risk, not solely to the area however properly past," he added.
In line with Centcom, no civilians had been killed within the operation however coalition forces are "assessing experiences of a civilian damage".
Friday's strike, Centcom mentioned, "was carried out by the identical MQ-9s (drones) that had... been harassed by Russian plane in an encounter that had lasted nearly two hours".
US drones collaborating in operations in opposition to IS in Syria had been harassed on Thursday, for the second time in 24 hours, by Russian navy plane, a US commander mentioned on the time.
Air Power Lieutenant Common Alexus Grynkewich mentioned the planes "dropped flares in entrance of the drones and flew dangerously shut, endangering the protection of all plane concerned".
In one other incident on Wednesday, three Russian jets dropped parachute flares in entrance of US drones, forcing them to take evasive motion, Grynkewich has mentioned, calling on Moscow to "stop this reckless behaviour".
Russia is a key ally of the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
With the assist of Moscow in addition to Iran, Assad has clawed again a lot of the bottom misplaced within the early levels of the Syrian battle that erupted in 2011 when the federal government brutally repressed pro-democracy protests.
The final pockets of armed opposition to the regime embrace giant swathes of the northern rebel-held Idlib province.
The USA has about 1,000 troops deployed in Syria as a part of worldwide efforts to fight IS jihadists, who had been defeated in Syria in 2019 however nonetheless preserve hideouts in distant desert areas and conduct frequent assaults.
rh/hkb/ami
[ad_2]
0 comments