US Drone Strike Northwest Syria Kills Senior al-Qaeda Leader

This US Air Force handout photo shows an MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV or drone) flying over the Nevada Test and Training Range on January 14, 2020.  William Rosado, AFP
This US Air Force handout photo shows an MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV or drone) flying over the Nevada Test and Training Range on January 14, 2020. William Rosado, AFP
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US Drone Strike Northwest Syria Kills Senior al-Qaeda Leader

This US Air Force handout photo shows an MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV or drone) flying over the Nevada Test and Training Range on January 14, 2020.  William Rosado, AFP
This US Air Force handout photo shows an MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV or drone) flying over the Nevada Test and Training Range on January 14, 2020. William Rosado, AFP

The US military announced on Friday the killing of a senior al-Qaeda leader in a drone strike in Raqqa countryside, northwest Syria.

"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.

The strike was carried out in the Suluk region, northern Syria, which is under Turkey's control.

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

"Al-Qaeda continues to present a threat to the US and our allies," he indicated, adding that the organization uses Syria as a haven to rebuild, coordinate with external affiliates, and plan external operations.

"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.

Matar was a member of the Guardians of Religion Organization, which is affiliated with al-Qaeda.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that former al-Nusra Front leader, Matar, was killed in an airstrike in the al-Raqqa countryside.

It wondered why such figures would reside in areas under Turkey's control in Syria.

Last July, the US Treasury announced new sanctions on several Syrian entities, including the "Ahrar al-Sharqiya" faction, its leader Abu Hatem Shaqra, and his cousin Abu Jaafar Shaqra.

In September, the Pentagon said it killed senior al-Qaeda leader Salim Abu Ahmed in an airstrike near Idlib.

According to Centcom, he had been responsible for "planning, funding, and approving trans-regional al-Qaeda attacks."

Rigsbee did not specify whether the strike that killed Matar was in response to Wednesday's attack on the al-Tanf military base in southeastern Syria near the borders with Iraq and Jordan.

On Wednesday, SOHR reported that several blasts were heard from the Al-Tanf base used by the US-led coalition near Syria's borders with Iraq and Jordan.

"Explosions resounded from the Al-Tanf base used by the US-led coalition," fighting ISIS, the Observatory said.

According to the monitor, a "drone attack" was responsible for the blasts, adding that it is still unknown whether ISIS or the Iranian militias are behind it.

There were no immediate reports of casualties, it reported.

The al-Tanf base in southern Syria was set up in 2016 as part of the fight against the ISIS terrorist group.

Syria and its allies have repeatedly said US troops had no reason to be there.

Iran-backed forces are deployed in the vicinity of the desert outpost, which sits on the strategically significant Baghdad-Damascus highway.



Gaza a ‘Mass Grave’ of Palestinians, Says MSF, as Israeli Strikes Kill 13 

People walk past a puddle of water by tent shelters erected near the rubble of a collapsed building in the Nasr neighborhood in western Gaza City on April 15, 2025. (AFP)
People walk past a puddle of water by tent shelters erected near the rubble of a collapsed building in the Nasr neighborhood in western Gaza City on April 15, 2025. (AFP)
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Gaza a ‘Mass Grave’ of Palestinians, Says MSF, as Israeli Strikes Kill 13 

People walk past a puddle of water by tent shelters erected near the rubble of a collapsed building in the Nasr neighborhood in western Gaza City on April 15, 2025. (AFP)
People walk past a puddle of water by tent shelters erected near the rubble of a collapsed building in the Nasr neighborhood in western Gaza City on April 15, 2025. (AFP)

Gaza has become a "mass grave" for Palestinians and those trying to help them, medical charity MSF said on Wednesday, as medics said the Israeli military killed at least 13 in the north of the enclave and continued to demolish homes in Rafah in the south.

Palestinian medics said an airstrike killed 10 people, including the well-known writer and photographer, Fatema Hassouna, whose work has captured the struggles faced by her community in Gaza City through the war. A strike on another house further north killed three, they said.

There was no comment from the Israeli military.

In Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, residents said the Israeli military demolished more homes in the city, which has all come under Israeli control in the past days in what Israeli leaders said was an expansion of security zones in Gaza to put more pressure on Hamas to release remaining hostages.

"Gaza has been turned into a mass grave of Palestinians and those coming to their assistance. We are witnessing in real time the destruction and forced displacement of the entire population in Gaza," Amande Bazerolle, Medecins Sans Frontieres' emergency coordinator in Gaza, said in a statement.

"With nowhere safe for Palestinians or those trying to help them, the humanitarian response is severely struggling under the weight of insecurity and critical supply shortages, leaving people with few, if any, options for accessing care."

Efforts by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States to restore the defunct ceasefire in Gaza and free Israeli hostages have faltered with Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas locked in their positions.

Hamas says it wants to move into the second phase of the January ceasefire agreement that would discuss Israel's pullout from Gaza and ending the war, which erupted when Hamas gunmen stormed Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel says war can only end when Hamas is defeated.

ESSENTIAL SUPPLIES

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said Israel's suspension of the entry of fuel, medical, and food supplies since early March had begun to obstruct the work of the few remaining working hospitals, with medical supplies drying up.

"Hundreds of patients and wounded individuals are deprived of essential medications, and their suffering is worsening due to the closure of border crossings," the ministry said.

Israel said the punitive measures were designed to keep up pressure on Hamas, while the group condemned it as "collective punishment."

Since restarting its military offensive in March, after two months of relative calm, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,600 Palestinians, Gaza health authorities have said. The campaign has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and imposed a blockade on all supplies entering the enclave.

Meanwhile, 59 Israeli hostages remain in the hands of Hamas. Israel believes 24 of them are alive.

The war was triggered by Hamas' October 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, at least 51,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, according to local health authorities.