On Monday, US forces announced that they had killed a leader of the Islamic State in northern Syria , who was responsible for planning attacks in the Middle East and Europe .

The Central Command of the US Army, "Centcom", said in a statement that it "killed at dawn on the seventeenth of April Abd al-Hadi Mahmoud al-Haj Ali," noting that he was "responsible for planning terrorist attacks in the Middle East and Europe."

In its statement, the Central Command confirmed that it launched the operation by helicopters in northern Syria, noting that the operation left "two other armed men dead" at the site.

In a previous statement, the commander of the Central Command, Michael Korella, suggested that the targeted person had been killed.
Kurella said in the statement that the jihadist organization "is still capable of launching operations in the region" and also has a desire to launch attacks "outside the Middle East."

The operation did not result in the death or injury of any American soldier or civilians, according to Centcom.
The operation took place, according to an AFP correspondent and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, in the village of As-Suwayda, near the border city of Jarabulus, in an area controlled by Syrian factions loyal to Ankara.

The Observatory reported that clashes broke out in the area during the operation, during which the building in which the leader was residing was targeted with two missiles.

Residents of the area and the Observatory told AFP that the targeted jihadi leader, who was previously detained by Kurdish fighters, moved to the village of As-Suwayda six months ago. They reported that he was killed and his body was handed over to his brother.

The Observatory stated that the operation also resulted in the death of two members of the "Suqur al-Shamal" faction during the clashes during the operation, referring to information about a fourth person who was "taken with them by the American forces," and it is not clear whether he was killed. The Observatory had previously suggested his death.
The Northern Falcons faction confirmed the killing of two of its fighters, indicating that they were killed while they were inspecting what was happening.

"Many of the organization's former fighters have joined the ranks of pro-Ankara factions" in northern Syria, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Since the announcement of the elimination of the "Islamic Caliphate" in 2019, US forces and the international coalition led by Washington have pursued the organization's leaders. From time to time, raids, raids, or airdrops are launched against suspected members of the organization.

These operations are repeated in areas where the organization's members hide in Deir ez-Zor Governorate (east), areas controlled by the Ankara-loyal factions (north), and Idlib Governorate, which is controlled by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Al-Nusra).

And on April 4, Centcom announced the death of a senior ISIS leader who was responsible for planning attacks in Europe and Turkey in an airstrike in Idlib.

The US forces succeeded in liquidating or arresting leaders in several operations, the most prominent of which was the killing of the leaders of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi in October 2019, and then Abu Ibrahim Al-Qurashi in February 2022 in Idlib Governorate.

At the end of November, the extremist organization announced the killing of its leader, Abi al-Hassan al-Hashemi al-Qurashi, in battles whose date was not specified, and it later became clear that they took place in Daraa Governorate in the south in October, in which local fighters participated with the support of the Syrian regime forces.

Despite the strikes targeting its leaders, movements, and locations, the organization is still able to launch attacks and carry out sporadic attacks, especially in eastern and northeastern Syria, and in the vast Syrian desert.

On Sunday, more than 40 people were killed in two separate attacks in the center and east of the country, launched by gunmen believed to belong to the Islamic State.