US Kills Al-Qaeda Leader in Syria

The U.S. armed forces announced they killed an Al-Qaeda-linked leader in a raid in northwestern Syria. The raid was in retaliation for an attack that killed three Americans in December.

According to CENTCOM, the man killed was allegedly named Bilal Hassan al-Jasim and was an "experienced terrorist leader" who planned attacks and was directly linked to an Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist.

The December 13 attack in Palmyra was the first of its kind since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. The U.S. and its allies have intensified attacks against ISIS in Syria.