US military says air strike killed senior al Qaeda leader

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A senior al Qaeda leader was killed in a drone strike Friday in northwest Syria, the U.S. military says.

Army Maj. John Rigsbee, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said in a statement that Abdul Hamid al-Matar was killed in the airstrike.

Rigsbee said the killing of al-Matar will disrupt al Qaeda’s “ability to further plot and carry out global attacks threatening U.S. citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians.” He said al Qaeda “uses Syria as a base for threats reaching into Syria, Iraq and beyond.”

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The drone strike came two days after a U.S. military outpost in southern Syria was hit by a coordinated attack that included drones and rockets. U.S. officials said no American troops stationed there were injured or killed.