President Donald Trump praised US forces for an airstrike over the weekend that targeted an official of Hurras al-Din, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, in Syria.
“US forces conducted a precision airstrike against a member of al-Qaeda in Syria this weekend,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The terrorist leader was working with al-Qaeda across the region.”
“Congratulations to CENTCOM Commander Gen. Michael Kurilla, and the US warfighters who dealt Justice to another Jihadi threatening America and our allies and partners,” according to him.
On Saturday, US forces “conducted a precision airstrike in Northwest Syria targeting and killing a senior finance and logistics official in the terrorist organisation Hurras al-Din (HaD), an Al-Qaeda affiliate,” according to a press release from US Central Command.
The airstrike was issued by CENTCOM as part of its “ongoing commitment, along with partners in the region, to disrupt and degrade efforts by terrorists to plan, organise, and conduct attacks against civilians and military personnel from the U.S., our allies, and our partners throughout the region and beyond.”
“We will continue to relentlessly pursue terrorists in order to defend our homeland, as well as U.S., allied, and partner personnel in the region,” said Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla.
Hurras al-Din was founded in 2018 after the Nusrah Front terrorist organisation split from Al-Qaeda. According to the National Counterterrorism Centre, the group is primarily active in Syria’s Idlib Province and may have up to 2,500 members.
The institute reported that Hurras al-Din “advocates attacks against the West and Israel to expel foreign influence from Muslim lands, and it seeks to set the conditions necessary to form a new caliphate across the Levant and the broader Middle East.”
“Hurras al-Din maintains access to several long-time al-Qa’ida members who could enable the group to pose a threat to US and other Western interests outside of Syria, despite its weakened state following successive personnel losses since 2019 that have removed many of the group’s veteran leaders,” according to the institute.
