US eliminates Daesh leader responsible for planning attacks in Europe

US Central Command strikes a new blow against the jihadist group. The US military has announced the death of a Daesh leader in a drone-launched Hellfire missile strike in the town of Kili in Syria's northwestern Idlib province. The man identified as Khalid Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri was responsible for planning Daesh attacks in Europe and developing the group's hierarchical structure.  

The attack reportedly wounded the jihadist leader while he was talking on the phone and the Syrian Civil Defence, known as the White Helmets, reportedly came to his rescue. "Our teams took the wounded man to Bab Al-Hawa hospital," where he died, they said on their Twitter account. The "unilateral" operation was precise. According to CENTCOM, no civilians were killed or injured in the attack. 

A further strike that will "temporarily disrupt the organisation's ability to plan external attacks", the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.  

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has also reported the death of the jihadist leader near the village of Kefteen, the area controlled by opponents of Bashar al-Assad's regime. An area that has become a stronghold for Daesh and where the main jihadist leaders have taken refuge after their defeat in 2019.   

"Although degraded, the group remains capable of conducting operations within the region with the desire to strike beyond the Middle East," said General Michael Kurill, in charge of CENTCOM in Syria. Indeed, there have been calls for further military strikes in the West as revenge for the death of the organisation's former leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi, who was eliminated by the US in July 2022.  

These attempts are intended to add to the historic jihadist attacks in Europe. Daesh has claimed responsibility for the attacks against the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris in January 2015 and those in the Saint-Denis suburb with 130 dead in December of the same year; at Brussels airport in 2016; at the Manchester Arena in 2017; and the attack on La Rambla in Barcelona in 2017, the last one perpetrated by Daesh in Europe.   

For the Washington-led international coalition against terrorism, it recognises that it will not cease its operations against Daesh. In the last 48 missions, 22 members of Daesh have been eliminated and 25 other members of the organisation have been arrested, to which Ahmad al-Jabouri has now been added. The fight against terrorism does not cease, and for Michael Kurill it will not stop until "the definitive and lasting defeat of Daesh". 

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which killed two Daesh suicide bombers in Hasakah in Syria on Friday, is also engaged in the fight against terrorism. "The suicide bombers were ambushed and killed before they could set off their explosives," said CENTCOM. Syria, along with Iraq, has seen an upsurge in terrorist activity. Attacks have been ongoing and particularly intense during 2022 and early 2023.

Americas Coordinator: José Antonio Sierra