U.S. military says drone strike killed al Qaeda leader in Syria

A file photo showing the aftermath of a drone strike in Syria.
(Image credit: Omar Haj Kadour/AFP via Getty Images)

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."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.