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 United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on August 23 that it had killed Hurras al-Din’s senior leader Abu-’Abd al-Rahman al-Makki in a “targeted kinetic strike” in Syria.
Al-Makki was a Hurras al-Din Shura Council member and was “responsible for overseeing terrorist operations from Syria, the command said in a statement.
It added that Hurras al-Din is “an Al Qaeda-associated force based in Syria that shares Al Qaeda’s global aspirations to conduct attacks against U.S. and Western interests.”
“CENTCOM remains committed to the enduring defeat of terrorists in the CENTCOM area of responsibility who threaten the United States, its allies and partners, and regional stability,” CENTCOM Commander General Michael Erik Kurilla was quoted as saying in the statement.
Syrian media said that al-Makki, a Saudi national, was killed when a drone strike hit his motorcycle on a road between the towns of al-Bara and Ehsim in the northwestern region of Greater Idlib. The region is ruled by another offshoot of al-Qaeda, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
Al-Makki was reportedly jailed by HTS between 2020 and 2022. The reasons behind his detention and later release remains unknown.
In the last few years, several senior leaders of ISIS and al-Qaeda-affiliated groups were killed in U.S. drone strikes and helicopter raids in Greater Idlib. Notably, none of the targets were working for or allied with HTS. In fact, most of them were at odds with the group.
U.S. operations in Greater Idlib are not coordinated with the Syrian government. These operations are usually launched from bases in Syria’s northern and eastern regions, or from neighboring Iraq.
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