Boma Achenimie 
The United States (US) military on Sunday confirmed its troops killed a senior official of an Al Qaeda affiliate during an airstrike in northwest Syria.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it conducted the strike on Saturday “In Northwest Syria targeting and killing a senior finance and logistics official in the terrorist organization Hurras al-Din (HaD), an Al-Qaeda affiliate.”
According to a statement on X, the strike was conducted “to disrupt and degrade efforts by terrorists to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against civilians and military personnel” from the United States and its allies.
CENTCOM did not identify its target.
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On January 30, CENTCOM killed another senior operative in Hurras al-Din, Muhammad Salah al-Zabir, in an air strike.
The US-based SITE Intelligence Group said Hurras al-Din was founded in February 2018.
It did not publicly confirm its allegiance to Al-Qaeda until its dissolution announcement last month.
The United States designated Hurras al-Din as a “terrorist” organisation in 2019 and has offered financial rewards for information on several of its members.
“We will continue to relentlessly pursue terrorists in order to defend our homeland, and US, allied, and partner personnel in the region,” CENTCOM General Michael Erik Kurilla said in a statement.
