US Takes Down ISIL Leader in Drone Strike in Syria

 The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) has announced that a US-led military operation in eastern Syria resulted in the death of ISIL leader Osama al-Muhajer.

CENTCOM chief General Michael Kurilla confirmed that the mission was conducted by MQ-9 drones and that no civilians were killed in the operation, although reports of a civilian injury are being assessed.

The strike comes after the US military reported two separate incidents involving Russian warplanes and US Reaper drones, with Moscow denying its warplanes were responsible for the downing of a Reaper drone in the Black Sea.

The death of al-Muhajer follows the defeat of ISIL in Syria in 2019 and the deployment of 1,000 US troops to the region as part of international efforts to combat the group.

The last pockets of armed opposition to the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad include large swathes of the northern rebel-held Idlib province.