Over 100 al-Qaeda operatives killed in US air strike

A US air strike on Thursday targeting an al-Qaeda training camp in Syria’s Idlib province killed more than 100 militants, said the Pentagon on Friday.

The strike took place just a day before the end of Barack Obama’s presidency and the beginning of Donald Trump’s and a day after more than 80 Islamic State militants were killed in US air strikes in Libya.

“The removal of this training camp disrupts training operations and discourages hardline Islamist and Syrian opposition groups from joining or cooperating with al-Qaeda on the battlefield,” said Capt Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.

Capt Davis said the Shaykh Sulayman training camp had been operational since 2013, adding that since the start of this year more than 150 al-Qaeda militants have been killed in US air strikes.

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Bombing run

An official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the strike was carried out by a B-52 bomber and unmanned aircraft and dropped 14 munitions. The official added that there was a high level of confidence that there were no civilian casualties.

A US-led coalition has been carrying out air strikes and supporting local forces in Syria to oust Islamic State militants. However, there is concern that the defeat of Islamic State could open the door for al-Qaeda to take territory in ungoverned parts of the country.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Friday that an air strike killed more than 40 members of the jihadist group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham in northwestern Syria. It was not immediately clear if this strike was the same one to which the Pentagon was referring.

– (Reuters)