A MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle prepares to land after a mission in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson)
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) has taken cordite for the October 22 drone strike that targeted the town of Suluk in the northeastern Syrian governorate of Raqqa.
In an official statement, the command confirmed that the strike killed Abdul Hamid al-Matar, a senior commander of al-Qaeda in Syria.
The strike was carried out by a General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper combat drone. Al-Matar was targeted with an AGM-114 Hellfire missile, possibly of the RX9 variant which is armed with a kinetic warhead with pop-out blades instead of explosives.
“Al-Qaeda continues to present a threat to America and our allies. Al-Qaeda uses Syria as a safe haven to rebuild, coordinate with external affiliates, and plan external operations. Al-Qaeda also uses Syria as a base for threats reaching into Syria, Iraq and beyond,” CENTCOM spokesman, Maj. John Rigsbee, said. “The removal of this al-Qaeda senior leader will disrupt the terrorist organization’s ability to further plot and carry out global attacks threatening U.S. citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians.”
Syrian sources said that al-Matar was a leader in al-Qaeda’s Horas al-Din. Before joining the group, the terrorist was a leader in another Syrian affiliate of al-Qaeda, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
In January, Horas al-Din claimed responsibility for a failed attack that targeted a position of the Russian Military Police in the northern countryside of Raqqa. Russian troops are present in the region to monitor a ceasefire between the Turkish military and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
Al-Matar’s presence in Suluk, which is occupied by Turkish forces, was not apparently a secret. The terrorist may have been operating in the town with the knowledge of Turkish-backed Syrian militants.
This was not CENTCOM’s first drone strike on al-Qaeda in Syria this year. In September, a drone strike targeted Horas al-Din senior leader Salim Abu-Ahmad in the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib, which is held by HTS.
