CENTCOM says senior al-Qaeda–linked militant killed in Syria

The US military on Tuesday announced that it conducted a strike last week in Syria that targeted and killed a senior al-Qaeda-linked member.

“US forces in the Middle East remain postured to disrupt and defeat efforts by terrorists to plan, organize, and conduct attacks,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) head Adm. Brad Cooper said.

CENTCOM said Muhammad Abedelwahhab al-Ahmad was a member of Ansar al-Islam, an al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist group. The strike was carried out on Oct. 2.

The announcement comes days after a senior US defense official said the US military was shifting focus to ISIS threats from Syria while consolidating bases in Iraq and relocating to Erbil.

Despite being diminished from its peak a decade ago, ISIS still maintains fighters and operational capabilities inside Syria. The Pentagon estimates around 9,000 ISIS militants are currently detained there, alongside 29,000 displaced persons in camps that pose risks of radicalization and recruitment. “These camps are incubators for radicalization,” the senior defense official warned, urging foreign governments to repatriate their citizens. Washington has been calling on countries for years to take back nationals detained in northeast Syria.