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The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on January 30 that its forces had conducted a strike in northwest Syria targeting and killing Muhammad Salah al-Za’bir, a senior operative in the al-Qaeda-affiliated Hurras al-Din terrorist group.
The command said in a statement that the strike was a part of its “ongoing commitment, along with partners in the region, to disrupt and degrade efforts by terrorists to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against civilians and military personnel from the U.S., our allies, and our partners throughout the region and beyond.”
According to Syrian media reports, the deadly strike took place near the town of Batabo in the northern countryside of Idlib.
Footage from the scene indicates that al-Za’bir’s vehicle, an SUV, was targeted with an AGM-114R-9X, a version of the laser-guided Hellfire missile with a kinetic warhead made up of pop-out blades instead of explosives. The missile is typically launched from MQ-9 Reaper combat drones, which were reportedly spotted over Idlib before and after the strike.
“CENTCOM will continue to hunt and kill or capture terrorists, and defend our homeland, against groups that plot to attack US and allied personnel,” said Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, commander, U.S. Central Command.
The strike came just two days after Hurras al-Din declared its dissolution, citing the victory of the Syrian revolution and the fall of the Assad regime as the reason to cease operations in the country.
Since its formation in 2018, Hurras al-Din clashed on several occasions with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which led the offensive that removed Bashar al-Assad from power last December. HTS also declared its dissolution earlier in the week after its leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, was appointed the president of Syria for the transitional period.
It’s worth noting that this was CENTCOM’s second strike to target Idlib since the start of the year. The first strike, which was on January 15, claimed the lives of an ISIS member and a civilian who was passing by at the time.
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