Trump Congratulates Military After Top Terror Target Is 'Dealt Justice'
President Donald Trump offered praise to senior military officials after they successfully targeted and killed a leader of al-Qaeda in Syria over the weekend.
U.S. Central Command, also known as CENTCOM, announced on Sunday that forces “conducted a precision airstrike in Northwest Syria” that killed a “senior finance and logistics official” for Hurras al-Din, an affiliate of al-Qaeda.
The military command said that the airstrike was part of an “ongoing commitment” to interrupt “efforts by terrorists to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against civilians and military personnel from the U.S., our allies, and our partners throughout the region and beyond.”
Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, commander of CENTCOM, said in a statement that “we will continue to relentlessly pursue terrorists in order to defend our homeland, and U.S., allied, and partner personnel in the region.”
Trump offered his commendation through a Truth Social post on Monday evening.
“US forces conducted a precision airstrike against a member of al-Qaeda in Syria this weekend,” the commander-in-chief wrote.
“The terrorist leader was working with al-Qaeda across the region,” he said.
“Congratulations to CENTCOM Commander Gen. Michael Kurilla, and the US warfighters who dealt Justice to another Jihadi threatening America and our allies and partners.”
Hurras al-Din was launched in 2018 following the Nusrah Front terrorist organization breaking away from al-Qaeda, according to a report from Fox News.
The group reportedly has about 2,500 members.
Hurras al-Din has replaced the Nusrah Front as the main al-Qaeda presence in Syria for the past seven years, according to an analysis from the National Counterterrorism Center.
“Hurras al-Din maintains access to several longtime 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,” the agency warned.
Hurras al-Din typically relies on small arms attacks.
Their main targets include “proregime and Syria-based Russian forces, although the group has also kidnapped some HTS members,” a reference to the Islamic militant coalition that recently overthrew the Syrian government.
The United States designated Hurras al-Din as “specially designated global terrorists” in 2019.
CENTCOM announced another airstrike against Muhammad Salah al-Za’bir, a senior operative for Hurras al-Din, in another release at the end of last month.
“CENTCOM will continue to hunt and kill or capture terrorists, and defend our homeland, against groups that plot to attack US and allied personnel,” Kurilla said.
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