US Military Says it Killed Leader of al-Qaeda-Aligned Group in Syria

US soldiers and military vehicles as a base in Syria's northeastern town of Rmelan on October 29, 2023. (AFP)
US soldiers and military vehicles as a base in Syria's northeastern town of Rmelan on October 29, 2023. (AFP)
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US Military Says it Killed Leader of al-Qaeda-Aligned Group in Syria

US soldiers and military vehicles as a base in Syria's northeastern town of Rmelan on October 29, 2023. (AFP)
US soldiers and military vehicles as a base in Syria's northeastern town of Rmelan on October 29, 2023. (AFP)

The US military said it carried out a strike in Syria on Friday that killed a senior leader of an al-Qaeda aligned group, Reuters said.
The strike targeted Abu-’Abd al-Rahman al-Makki, a senior leader of the al-Qaeda-aligned Hurras al-Din, the US Central Command said in a post on X.
The strike took place in the Jabal al-Zawiya area of the opposition-held Idlib province.
The US military has carried out a series of attacks over the past several years targeting al-Qaida-linked militants in northwestern Syria.
“CENTCOM remains committed to the enduring defeat of terrorists ... who threaten the United States, its allies and partners, and regional stability,” the CENTCOM commander, Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, said in a statement.



Pope Calls Situation in Gaza 'Shameful'

Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
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Pope Calls Situation in Gaza 'Shameful'

Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

Pope Francis on Thursday stepped up his recent criticisms of Israel's military campaign in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave "very serious and shameful.”

In a yearly address to diplomats delivered on his behalf by an aide, Francis appeared to reference deaths caused by winter cold in Gaza, where there is almost no electricity.

"We cannot in any way accept the bombing of civilians," the text said, according to Reuters.
"We cannot accept that children are freezing to death because hospitals have been destroyed or a country's energy network has been hit."

The pope, 88, was present for the address but asked an aide to read it for him as he is recovering from a cold.

The comments were part of an address to Vatican-accredited envoys from some 184 countries that is sometimes called the pope's 'state of the world' speech. The Israeli ambassador to the Holy See was among those present for the event.

Francis, leader of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church, is usually careful about taking sides in conflicts.
But he has recently been more outspoken about Israel's military campaign against Palestinian militant group Hamas, and has suggested
the global community should study whether the offensive constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people.
An Israeli government minister publicly denounced the pontiff in December for that suggestion.

The pope's text said he condemns anti-Semitism, and called the growth of anti-Semitic groups "a source of deep concern."
Francis also called for an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia, which has killed tens of thousands.