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Washington: The US military has claimed that an ISIS leader was killed in a drone strike in eastern Syria. Osama al-Muhajer was killed in the attack on Friday, according to a statement issued by US Central Command (CentCom) on Sunday.
“We have made it clear that we are committed to the defeat of ISIS across the region,” said Michael Kurilla, head of CentCom. “ISIS remains a threat not only to the region but also beyond,” he said. CentCom also claimed that no civilians were killed in the operation, but coalition forces insisted on reports of civilian injuries.
According to a media report, the drone used for the attack was harassed by Russian warplanes. On Friday’s attack, Centcom said it was carried out by the same MQ-9s (drones) that were harassed by Russian planes in an encounter that lasted for about two hours. Russian military aircraft harassed US drones taking part in operations against ISIL in Syria for the second time in 24 hours on Thursday, a US commander reported at the time.
In a report, Air Force Lieutenant General Alexus Grinkevich said the planes dropped flares in front of the drone and flew dangerously, putting the safety of all aircraft involved at risk. Grinkevich said three Russian jets dropped parachute flares at US drones on Wednesday, forcing them to flee, and urged Moscow to stop this reckless behaviour.
American Reaper drones and Russian airplanes were involved in two separate incidents on Wednesday and Thursday, according to video footage released by the US.
A diplomatic row erupted earlier this year when the US alleged that Russian jets were to blame for downing a US$30 million Reaper drone, which was loaded with sensitive US spying technology and was operating over the Black Sea. Had been. Although Moscow denied that its jets were to blame for a drone that crashed into the water in March, US military video showed Russian planes performing maneuvers to intercept the drone’s flight path, according to Al Jazeera .
In Syria, the administration of President Bashar al-Assad considers Russia an important ally. Assad has recovered much of the ground lost in the early stages of the Syrian crisis, which began in 2011 when the regime brutally suppressed pro-democracy protesters with the help of both Moscow and Iran. The rebel-controlled Idlib region in northern Syria is one of the remaining bastions of armed opposition to Assad’s regime. The US has about 1,000 troops stationed in Syria as part of the global effort to combat ISIL.
