The US Central Command said Sunday that a US drone strike killed a key Daesh leader in Syria shortly after Russian warplanes harassed MQ-9 drones over the war-torn country.
Osama al-Muhajer, an IS — also known as Daesh — leader in eastern Syria, was killed in the strike on Friday, according to a statement by Centcom.
"We have made it clear that we remain committed to the defeat of ISIS throughout the region," Centcom chief General Michael Kurilla was quoted as saying, using another acronym for the IS jihadist group.
"ISIS remains a threat, not only to the region but well beyond," he added.
No civilians were killed during the operation, but coalition forces are "assessing reports of a civilian injury," according to Centcom.
The strike on Friday, according to Centcom, "was carried out by the same MQ-9s (drones) that had... been hounded by Russian aircraft in an encounter that had lasted almost two hours."
US drones taking part in operations against IS in Syria were harassed on Thursday, for the second time in 24 hours, by Russian military aircraft, a US commander said at the time.
Air Force Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich said the planes "dropped flares in front of the drones and flew dangerously close, endangering the safety of all aircraft involved".
In another incident on Wednesday, three Russian jets dropped parachute flares in front of US drones, forcing them to take evasive action, Grynkewich said, calling on Moscow to "cease this reckless behaviour".
Russia is a key ally of the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
With the support of Moscow as well as Iran, Assad has clawed back much of the ground lost in the early stages of the Syrian conflict that erupted in 2011 when the government brutally repressed pro-democracy protests.
Large portions of the rebel-held Idlib province in the north are among the last bastions of armed resistance to the regime.
As part of global efforts to combat IS jihadists, who were defeated in Syria in 2019 but still keep bases in isolated desert regions and carry out regular attacks, the United States has about 1,000 troops stationed there.
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