A senior Al Qaeda leader was killed in an airstrike in Syria, US says

• A senior Al Qaeda leader was killed in a US airstrike Friday in northwest Syria.
• US Central Command said Abdul Hamid al-Matar was killed by a drone strike.
• The strike comes two days after a US military outpost in southern Syria was hit by an attack.

The US military says it killed a senior Al Qaeda leader in an airstrike Friday in northwest Syria.

Army Maj. John Rigsbee, a spokesman for US Central Command, said in a statement that Abdul Hamid al-Matar was killed by a drone strike.

Rigsbee said the killing of al-Matar will disrupt Al Qaeda’s “ability to further plot and carry out global attacks threatening U.S. citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians.” He said Al Qaeda “uses Syria as a base for threats reaching into Syria, Iraq and beyond.”

The drone strike came two days after a US military outpost in southern Syria was hit by a coordinated attack that included drones and rockets. US officials said no American troops stationed there were injured or killed.