US: 7 Al-Qaeda leaders killed in air strike in Syria

The United States announces that it killed seven senior leaders of Al-Qaeda in Syria in an air strike last week as they were meeting near Idlib, US Central Command announced on Monday.

Central Command spokeswoman, Major Beth Riordan, said the strike was conducted on 22 October.

The leaders were not identified.

“The removal of these AQ-S leaders will disrupt the terrorist organization’s ability to further plot and carryout global attacks threatening U.S. citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians,” Riordan said.

“With our allies and partners, we will continue to target al Qaida and other terrorist organisations.” she added.

According to Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), 17 members of Al-Qaeda died in the strike.

The British-based group said the strike had targeted a dinner of jihadists in the village of Jakara in the Salqin area.

On Saturday, Afghan forces killed a top Al-Qaeda militant who was wanted by the United States.