US says it killed Islamic State leader Osama Al-Muhajer in Syria in drone strike

The US Central Command announced on Sunday that on July 7, a drone attack in Eastern Syria killed an ISIS leader.

It utilised the same MQ-9 drones that were “earlier in the day harassed by Russian aircraft in an encounter that lasted nearly two hours,” according to a statement.

“U.S. Central Command conducted a strike in Syria that resulted in the death of Usamah al-Muhajir, an ISIS leader in eastern Syria,” the statement claimed, without going into any information about al-Muhajir.

Washington has in the last year stepped up raids and operations against suspected ISIS operatives in Syria, killing and arresting various of its leaders who had taken shelter in areas under Turkey-backed rebel control after the group lost its last territory in Syria in 2019.

The U.S.-led campaign which killed former ISIS head Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, who had declared himself the “caliph of all Muslims”, has since targeted its surviving leaders, many of whom are thought to have planned attacks abroad.

According to US military commanders, ISIS poses a substantial threat in the region, despite the fact that its capabilities have been destroyed and its capacity to re-establish its network has been reduced.

At its peak in 2014, the Islamic State controlled one-third of Iraq and Syria. Despite being defeated in both nations, its fighters continue to carry out guerrilla activities.