A US drone strike against the Idlib Governorate in northern Syria has killed two people, according to reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. US Central Command (CENTCOM) says that one of the slain people was a “senior operative” of al-Qaeda affiliate Hurras al-Din.
The attack took place outside of the town of Orm al-Jouz. It is the second confirmed US drone strike against the Idlib Governorate since President Trump took office last month. The previous strike, on January 30, killed Hurras al-Din member Muhammad Salah al-Za’bir, according to CENTCOM. He too was called a “senior operative” at the time.
Beyond being the second strike against Hurras al-Din in Idlib Governorate since the new administration came to power in the US, it is also the second strike since Hurras al-Din announced it was dissolving and ending operations. They made this announcement January 29, in a statement declaring Sunni “triumph” over former President Bashar al-Assad.
Assad was ousted in December by al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), one of many distinct Islamist groups that were holed up in Idlib during the civil war. With Sunni Islamists already in power, it was seen that Hurras al-Din really didn’t see much of an impetus for continuing to fight. Dissolving does not appear to have stopped them from being a US target, however.
Sunday’s drone strike on Idlib is also noteworthy because Syria’s de facto leader from the HTS, Ahmed al-Sharaa (previously known as Mohammad al-Jolani), was visiting the Idlib Governorate for the first time since he had taken power. Sharaa was the effective ruler of Idlib for years before the offensive left him in control of all of Syria.
Sharaa was not present at the time of the US drone strike, having moved on to neighboring Aleppo Province. He is the first sitting ruler of Syria to visit Idlib since Assad’s father, Hafez al-Assad, visited the area, reportedly in the 1970s.
The strikes raise questions about the Trump Administration’s stance toward Syria’s new government. The strikes did not directly target the government itself, but did attack a group that is at least ideologically similar to HTS, or was before it’s dissolution.
If they'd bomb the Damascus Presidential Palace… or even the Ankara Presidential Mega-Palace… or the CIA headquarters… they would achieve much greater success at killing Al Qaeda chieftains.
”If I had a hammer?! I’d hammer in the morning! I’d hammer in the evening! All over this land! I’d hammer out danger! I’d hammer out warning! I’d hammer out the love between my brothers and my sinisterly! All over this land!”…
"If your only tool is a hammer then every problem looks like the back of a skull." – Someone's SlashDot sig
When I heard, "DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS IN SYRIA," I thought it was like your normal "DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS." I never thought it would do be "US DRONE STRIKE" ELECTIONS. But since they can only elect one of those "al-Qaeda-linked" leaders, please ERASE and NEVER EVER AGAIN INCLUDE the word "DEMOCRATIC."
“Al Queda?! Or CIA-era?!
So we attacked their leaders only AFTER they had declared that they were disbanding. Is DC annoyed that their allies are going to stop indiscriminately slaughtering civilians, or what? It would be interesting to know if this guy were killed after meeting al-Jolani.
https://www.amazon.com/Agent-Storm-Life-Inside-Qaeda/dp/B01L9EMTAE
Will we ever get a headline where Israel is not killing, raping, torturing, slaughtering, dispossessing someone somewhere in the Middle East?
The West – mostly UK and US created that monster Israel in 1948 and now the monster is controlling the creators, so in order to save face some have joined Israel the monster in the eradication of Arabs. But it will not work in the end.
Just for historical reference. The USA was first country to recognize Israel, but it was De Facto recognition. The USSR was second nation to recognize Israel and they gave it a full De Jure recognition. Six of the first 10 nations to recognize Israel were from the Eastern Bloc. Most of the arms that came to Israel for 1948 war came from Czechoslovakia. USA had arms embargo on the Middle East in 1948 and the UK abstained from voting on the Palestine partition plan of 1947. So I'm not sure how you claim that US and UK were mostly responsible for the creation of Israel.
The USA did not become the major supplier of weapons to Israel until December 1967 when the first of 48 A-4 bombers were shipped to Israel. Two years later 50 F-4 fighters started to arrive in Israel.
Who tock the photo? Who ever did capture what happens to a car after a direct missile hit.