U.S. airstrikes in Syria last week killed 11 al Qaeda operatives, including one described by the Pentagon as a “legacy” member with ties to Osama bin Laden, according to a Defense Department statement Wednesday.
“These strikes disrupt al-Qaida’s ability to plot and direct external attacks targeting the U.S. and our interests worldwide,” Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis said in a statement. “These extremists are increasingly questioning the loyalty of their members as paranoia spreads throughout their network about the many strikes conducted against them.”
The precision airstrikes were carried out Friday and Saturday near Idlib in northwestern Syria, according to the statement. The Pentagon said the Friday strike hit a building being used as an al Qaeda meeting site, killing 10 operatives.
{mosads}The Saturday strike killed Abu Hani al-Masri, who the Pentagon said had ties to both bin Laden and al Qaeda’s current leader, Ayman al-Zawahri.
Al-Masri oversaw the creation and operation of many al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan in the 1980s and 1990s, the statement added.
“At the camps, he recruited, indoctrinated, trained and equipped thousands of terrorists who subsequently spread throughout the region and the world,” Davis said.
Al-Masri was also a founder of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the first Sunni group to use suicide bombers in their terror attacks, the Pentagon said. Among the group’s activities was failed plot in 1998 to attack the American embassy in Albania.