WASHINGTON, Oct 23, 2021 (BSS/AFP) - A senior al-Qaeda leader was killed in

a US drone strike in Syria, the Pentagon said Friday.

  The strike comes two days after a base in southern Syria, used by the US-
led coalition fighting the Islamic State group, was assaulted.

  "A US airstrike today in northwest Syria killed senior al-Qaeda leader
Abdul Hamid al-Matar," said Central Command spokesman Army Major John Rigsbee
in a statement.

  There were no known casualties from the strike, he said, adding it was
conducted using an MQ-9 aircraft.

  "The removal of this al-Qaeda senior leader will disrupt the terrorist
organization's ability to further plot and carry out global attacks," he
said.

  At the end of September the Pentagon killed Salim Abu-Ahmad, another senior
Al-Qaeda commander in Syria, in an airstrike near Idlib in the country's
northwest.

  He had been responsible for "planning, funding, and approving trans-
regional Al-Qaeda attacks," according to Centcom.

  "Al-Qaeda continues to present a threat to America and our allies. Al-Qaeda
uses Syria as a safe haven to rebuild, coordinate with external affiliates,
and plan external operations," Rigsbee said.

  The ongoing war in Syria has created a complex battlefield involving
foreign armies, militias and jihadists.

  The war has killed around half a million people since starting in 2011 with
a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests.