An airstrike in northwest Syria on Friday killed Abdul Hamid al-Matar, a senior al Qaeda leader, the U.S. military said.
In a statement, Army Maj. John Rigsbee, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said al Qaeda "uses Syria as a base for threats reaching into Syria, Iraq, and beyond," and al-Matar's death will rattle the terror group's "ability to further plot and carry out global attacks threatening U.S. citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians."
On Wednesday, a small U.S. military base in southern Syria near the border with Jordan was hit by a coordinated drone and rocket attack. No deaths or injuries of U.S. troops were reported.