The US military claims to have killed an ISIL (ISIS) leader in eastern Syria with a drone strike.
The strike on Friday killed Osama al-Muhajer, according to a statement issued by the US Central Command on Sunday.
“We have made it clear that we remain committed to the defeat of ISIS throughout the region,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief General Michael Kurilla said, using another acronym for the ISIL armed group.
“ISIS remains a threat, not only to the region but well beyond,” he added.
No civilians were killed in the operation, according to CENTCOM, but coalition forces are “assessing reports of a civilian injury.”
It said that the drones used in the attack had been harassed earlier in the day by Russian warplanes.
Friday’s strike, Centcom said, “was conducted by the same MQ-9s [drones] that had … been harassed by Russian aircraft in an encounter that had lasted almost two hours”.
US drones taking part in operations against ISIL in Syria were harassed by Russian military aircraft on Thursday for the second time in 24 hours, a US commander said at the time.
The jets “dropped flares in front of the drones and flew dangerously close, endangering the safety of all aircraft involved,” according to Air Force Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich.
In another instance on Wednesday, three Russian jets dropped parachute flares in front of US drones, causing them to take evasive action, according to Grynkewich, who has urged Moscow to “cease this reckless behavior.”
The two separate incidents on Wednesday and Thursday involving Russian warplanes and US Reaper drones were captured on video, the US said.
