U.S. forces conducted an airstrike yesterday near Idlib, Syria, targeting Egyptian national Abu al-Farai al-Masri, one of al-Qaida in Syria's most senior leaders and a legacy al-Qaida terrorist who previously had ties to Osama bin Laden, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said.
In a statement issued last night, Cook said officials were still assessing the strike’s results.
If confirmed, the death of Masri – who also is known as Ahmad Salamah Mabruk -- would disrupt and degrade coordination among senior al-Qaida leaders and extremists, the press secretary said.
“The United States military will continue to target al-Qaida leaders to disrupt their operations and counter the threat posed by this terrorist group,” he added.