Washington/UNI/Sputnik: United States military killed a leader of the Islamic State terrorist group (IS), banned in Russia, during an airstrike in Syria, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Tuesday.
"U.S. Central Command Forces conducted a UAS strike outside Jindayris, northwest Syria targeting two senior ISIS officials, July 12, 2012. Maher al-Agal, one of the top five ISIS leaders and the leader of ISIS in Syria, was killed in the strike," CENTCOM said in a press release.
"A senior ISIS official closely associated with Maher was seriously injured during the strike."
There were no civilian casualties as a result of the strike, CENTCOM added.
CENTCOM believes that al-Agal was responsible for the development of IS networks outside of Iraq and Syria.
"The removal of these ISIS leaders will disrupt the terrorist organization's ability to further plot and carry out global attacks," CENTCOM spokesperson Col. Joe Buccino said, as quoted in the release.
In June, US forces killed a senior leader of the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Hurras al-Din (banned in Russia), Abu Hamzah al Yemeni, in a drone strike in Syria.
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