US says strike killed senior Islamic State leader in northern Syria
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Qatar Tribune
a day ago
- Qatar Tribune
US says strike killed senior Islamic State leader in northern Syria
DamascuscTypeface:> A senior Islamic State leader and his two sons have been killed in a strike on al-Bab in Syria's Aleppo Governorate, the United States military has announced. CENTCOM named the men as Dhiya' Zawba Muslih al-Hardani, and his two adult sons, Abdallah Dhiya al-Hardani and Abd al-Rahman Dhiya Zawba al-Hardani, saying they were all affiliated to Islamic State. It said they had posed a threat to US and coalition forces, as well as to the new Syrian government. Three women and three children were also at the target site and were unharmed, CENTCOM, which is based in Florida, said in a statement issued on Friday. CENTCOM commander General Michael Erik Kurilla said the US was committed to destroying Islamic State. Iraq supported the operation with intelligence information, according to the local counter-terrorism agency in Baghdad. The operation resulted in the killing of 'one of the most dangerous leaders of the IS terrorist gangs and two of his companions.' There were conflicting reports in Damascus on whether the US military had coordinated the strike with the new government in the Syrian capital. The government controls al-Bab, which lies 40 kilometres to the north-east of Aleppo and just 30 kilometres south of the border with Turkey. (dpa)
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Al Jazeera
US military says it has killed senior ISIL (ISIS) leader in Syria's Aleppo
United States Central Command (CENTCOM) forces have killed a senior ISIL (ISIS) leader and his two sons affiliated to the group in Syria's Aleppo region, the US military has said. A post on X on Friday said, 'Early this morning in al Bab, Aleppo Governate, Syria, CENTCOM Forces conducted a raid resulting in the death of senior ISIS Leader, Dhiya' Zawba Muslih al-Hardani, and his two adult ISIS-affiliated sons, Abdallah Dhiya al-Hardani and Abd al-Rahman Dhiya Zawba al-Hardani.' 'These ISIS individuals posed a threat to US and Coalition Forces, as well as the new Syrian Government, ' it added. 'We will continue to relentlessly pursue ISIS terrorists wherever they are. ISIS terrorists are not safe where they sleep, where they operate, and where they hide. Alongside our partners and allies, U.S. Central Command is committed to the enduring defeat of ISIS terrorists that threaten the region, our allies, and our homeland,' General Michael Erik Kurilla, US CENTCOM commander, said. In late May, ISIL claimed responsibility for an attack on the Syrian army, representing the armed group's first strike at government forces since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, according to analysts. In a statement regarding that attack, ISIL said its fighters had planted an explosive device that struck a 'vehicle of the apostate regime' in southern Syria. ISIL, which views the new government in Damascus led by President Ahemd al-Sharaa as illegitimate, has so far concentrated its activities against Kurdish forces in the north. The fledgling Syrian government has had to contend with Israeli bombardment and incursions into its territory since al-Assad's overthrow, as well as the eruption of sustained sectarian violence in the southern city of Suwayda in recent weeks. CENTCOM Forces Kill Senior ISIS Leader in Al Bab, Syria Early this morning in al Bab, Aleppo Governate, Syria, CENTCOM Forces conducted a raid resulting in the death of senior ISIS Leader, Dhiya' Zawba Muslih al-Hardani, and his two adult ISIS-affiliated sons, Abdallah Dhiya… — U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 25, 2025
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Al Jazeera
French court to decide if al-Assad can be tried for Syrian chemical attacks
France's highest court is set to rule on whether it can strip the state immunity of Bashar al-Assad, the toppled Syrian leader in exile in Russia, because of the sheer brutal scale of evidence in accusations documented against him by Syrian activists and European prosecutors. If the judges at the Cour de Cassation lift al-Assad's immunity on Friday, it could pave the way for his trial in absentia over the use of chemical weapons in Ghouta in 2013 and Douma in 2018. It could also set a precedent to allow the prosecution of other government leaders linked to atrocities, human rights activists and lawyers say. Al-Assad has retained no lawyers for these charges and has denied he was behind the chemical attacks. The opposition has long rejected al-Assad's denial, as his forces were the only side in the ruinous, nearly 14-year civil war to possess sarin. A ruling against al-Assad would be 'a huge victory for the victims', said Mazen Darwish, president of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, which collected evidence of war crimes, quoted by The Associated Press news agency. 'It is not only about Syrians; this will open the door for the victims from any country and this will be the first time that a domestic investigative judge has the right to issue an arrest warrant for a president during his rule.' He said the ruling could enable his group to legally go after government members, like launching a money laundering case against former Syrian Central Bank governor and Minister of Economy Adib Mayaleh, whose lawyers have argued he had immunity under international law. Brutal crackdown For more than 50 years, Syria was ruled by Hafez al-Assad and then his son, Bashar. During the Arab Spring, rebellion broke out against their rule in 2011 across the country of 23 million, igniting a brutal civil war that killed more than half a million people, according to the the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). Millions more fled to Lebanon, Jordan, Turkiye and Europe. The al-Assad dynasty also fomented sectarian tensions to stay in power, a legacy driving renewed recent violence in Syria against minority groups, despite promises that the country's new leaders will carve out a political future for Syria that includes and represents all its communities. As the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for leaders accused of atrocities – such as Russia's Vladimir Putin in Ukraine, Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu in Gaza, and Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines – the French judges' ruling could empower the legal framework to prosecute not just deposed and exiled leaders but those currently in power. The Syrian government denied in 2013 that it was behind the Ghouta attack, but the United States subsequently threatened military retaliation, then settled for a deal with Moscow for al-Assad to give up his chemical weapons stockpile, opening the way for Russia to wield huge influence in the war-torn nation. Al-Assad survived more than a decade longer, aided militarily by Russia and Iranian-aligned groups, including Hezbollah, before being overthrown by rebel groups.
