US Army kills senior Islamic State official in Syria

Washington: The US Army has said they have killed a high-ranking member of the Islamic State terrorist militia in Syria in an airstrike.

“US Central Command conducted an airstrike in Syria, killing Usamah Jamal Muhammad Ibrahim al-Janabi, a senior ISIS official and facilitator,” the US Central Command, or CENTCOM, said in a post on social media platform X on Wednesday.

“His death will disrupt ISIS’s ability to resource and conduct terror attacks,” it added.

“There is no indication any civilians were harmed in this strike.”

US troops are stationed in Syria to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State. They are deployed in areas controlled by the Kurdish militia YPG and its allies.

Despite the military victory over the extremist militia announced in 2019, its cells are still active in the country.

According to observers, however, the US is also seeking to limit the influence of its arch-enemy Iran with its continued military presence in the region.

According to a defence official in Washington, around 700 US soldiers are still in Syria. Their deployment has become more dangerous with the outbreak of the Gaza war.

Pro-Iranian militias have repeatedly carried out attacks on the often small US military bases in the desert.