Washington - (AFP) - The United States announced on Tuesday that it had killed Maher al-Akal, the leader of the " Islamic State" organization in Syria , today, Tuesday, in a strike carried out by an American drone.

A statement from the Pentagon 's Central Command said that Maher al-Akal, described by the US Department of Defense as "one of the five most prominent leaders of the Islamic State", was killed while on a motorcycle near Jandris in Syria, and one of his senior aides was seriously wounded.

A spokesman for the Central Command, Colonel Joe Buccino, confirmed that Al-Akal was tasked with developing ISIS networks outside Iraq and Syria, stressing that the elimination of these organization leaders "will impede the terrorist organization's ability to prepare and launch attacks around the world."

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the death of Al-Akal, "along with another person who was with him, after they were targeted by a missile from an American march... (in) Jenderes in the countryside of Afrin, northwest of Aleppo."

The White Helmets Association (Civil Defense in areas outside the control of the Syrian regime) reported that one person was killed and another wounded in a strike targeting a motorcycle in the vicinity of Aleppo, but without specifying the identity of the two victims.

Not much information was reported about Al-Akal, but the Observatory identified him as the "Wali of Levant" within the Islamic State.
The strike came five months after the killing of the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Qurashi, by US special forces in Atmeh, Idlib Governorate (northwest).

US officials said al-Qurashi blew himself up to prevent US forces from apprehending him.

On Tuesday, Farhad Shami, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, a coalition of Kurdish-Arab factions backed by Washington, said that the two men belong to the "Ahrar al-Sharqiya" faction, which Washington imposed sanctions on last July.

The faction, which is active in areas controlled by the Turkish forces in northern Syria, and the majority of its members are from Deir ez-Zor Governorate (east), includes former members of the Islamic State, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The faction was accused of killing the Kurdish leader, Hevrin Khalaf, after removing her from a car she was carrying in October 2019, in a crime that sparked international condemnation and amounted to a "war crime."

The US forces succeeded in several operations in Idlib Governorate, the most prominent of which was the killing of the two leaders of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi in October 2019, and then Abu Ibrahim Al-Qurashi on February 3 in their hideouts.

In June, US forces arrested Hani Ahmed al-Kurdi, a prominent leader of the Islamic State, in an area under the control of pro-Ankara factions in northern Aleppo province.

The American forces are pursuing leaders of the Islamic State organization in hideouts in which they sought refuge in several areas in eastern, northern and western Syria, including Idlib and its environs, especially after the defeat of the organization three years ago.