BEIRUT — In Syria, 37 militants affiliated with the Islamic State extremist group and a group linked to Al-Qaeda were killed in two strikes, the US military said on Sunday.
Two of the dead were high-ranking militants, the statement said.
US Central Command said it struck northwest Syria on Tuesday, targeting a senior leader of the al-Qaeda-linked Hurras al-Deen group and eight other people. It is said that he was responsible for supervising military operations.
They also announced a strike earlier this month, on September 16, in which they carried out a “large-scale airstrike” on an IS training camp at a remote, undisclosed location in the center of Syria. This attack killed 28 militants, including “at least four Syrian leaders”.
“The airstrike will disrupt ISIS’s ability to conduct operations against U.S. interests, as well as our allies and partners,” the statement said.
There are some 900 U.S. troops in Syria, as well as an undisclosed number of contractors, most of whom are trying to prevent any return of the extremist group ISIS, which swept across Iraq and Syria in 2014, taking over control of vast areas of territory.
U.S. forces advise and assist their main allies in northeast Syria, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, located near strategic areas where Iranian-backed militant groups are present, including a border crossing key with Iraq.
