On Wednesday, the Pentagon confirmed that 11 al-Qaeda operatives were killed by the US forces in two air strikes that took place near Idlib, Syria, this month. Among them was a member with links to the late Osama bin Laden and other top leaders of the group.
Jeff Davis, the Navy captain and a Pentagon spokesman confirmed that the single strike that was performed on 3rd February left 10 operatives dead in a building used by al-Qaeda as their meeting point, reports CNN.
According to the Pentagon, the second strike took place on 4th February and among those who were killed included Hani al-Masri, a member who is said to have overseen the creation and operation carried out by many al-Qaeda training in several camps in Afghanistan between 1980s and 1990s, where he did the following: recruiting, indoctrinating training and equipping a large population of terrorists.
A senior defence official was quoted by the CNN saying that the strike that left al-Masri dead was delivered by an unmanned drone.
“The Strike disrupted al-Qaeda’s ability of plotting and directing external attacks targeting the US and our interest worldwide,” Claimed Mr. Davis.
The secret reveals that there were some ties existing between al-Masri and Osama bin Laden together with his successor as the leader of al-Qaeda Ayman al-Zawahiri. This is according to the Pentagon in one of their statements.
Just as al-Zawahiri, al-Masri was also an Egyptian National. The reports have it that he had fought with al-Qaeda in the earlier days of the group.