The United States conducted a military operation on Monday that killed a senior Islamic State leader in Syria, US Central Command (Centcom) said on Tuesday, the latest blow to a group that has sown fear in the Middle East .
Khalid ‘Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri was responsible for planning ISIL attacks in Europe and developed the group’s leadership structure, the statement said.
The Islamic State controlled areas of Iraq and Syria at the height of its power in 2014, before being fought in both countries. The group is estimated to have between 5,000 and 7,000 members and supporters spread across Syria and Iraq, about half of them combatants, according to a February United Nations report.
No civilians were killed or injured in the attack, Centcom said, adding that the group “continues to pose a threat to the region and beyond.”
“Although degraded, the group remains capable of conducting operations in the region with a desire to attack beyond the Middle East,” the statement said. She added that al-Jabouri’s death “would temporarily disrupt the group’s ability to plan external attacks.”
The UN report says that the threat posed by the Islamic State and its affiliates to international peace and security was high in the second half of 2022 and has increased in and around the conflict zones where it is present.
Late last year, the Islamic State announced it had appointed a previously unknown figure – Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Quraishi – as its leader after his predecessor was killed in southern Syria.
Source: Terra
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