OAN Staff James Meyers
11:14 AM – Friday, December 20, 2024
The U.S. Central Command says its forces went through with an airstrike on Thursday that killed ISIS leader Abu Yusif in the Deir Ezzor province in eastern Syria.
One other ISIS operative was also killed in the strike, according to U.S. officials.
“As stated before, the United States — working with allies and partners in the region — will not allow ISIS to take advantage of the current situation in Syria and reconstitute. ISIS has the intent to break out of detention the over 8,000 ISIS operatives currently being held in facilities in Syria. We will aggressively target these leaders and operatives, including those trying to conduct operations external to Syria,” says CENTCOM Commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla.
“ISIS has the intent to break out of detention the over 8,000 ISIS operatives currently being held in facilities in Syria,” he continued. “We will aggressively target these leaders and operatives, including those trying to conduct operations external to Syria.”
The report of Yusif’s elimination comes a few days after the U.S. also eliminated 12 other ISIS terrorists in Syria via precision strikes, with CENTCOM claiming that these strikes are to “disrupt, degrade, and defeat ISIS, preventing the terrorist group from conducting external operations and to ensure that ISIS does not seek opportunities to reconstitute in central Syria.”
This month, Syria’s former president Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by Syrian rebel forces after being president for 24 years.
Additionally, the announcement of the latest strike came a day after the U.S. said it had this year doubled the number of troops it has in Syria as part of the anti-ISIS fight.
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