8 February 2017, 18:24 GMT
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US military airstrikes near Syria’s town of Idlib eliminated 11 al-Qaeda fighters last week, US Department of Defense spokesperson Capt. Jeff Davis said in a release.
"US forces killed 11 al-Qaida operatives in two precision airstrikes near Idlib, Syria, Feb. 3-4," Davis stated on Wednesday.
A legacy al-Qaida terrorist, Abu Hani al-Masri, who had ties to Osama bin Laden, was killed in the Saturday strike, according to the release.
"These strikes disrupt al-Qaida's ability to plot and direct external attacks targeting the US and our interests worldwide," Davis said.
In the 1980s and 1990s, al-Masri oversaw the creation of al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. He also co-founded Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which was the first Sunni group that used suicide bombers.
