‘US strike kills Al Qaeda attack planner in Syria’

WASHINGTON  — A US drone strike in Syria last month killed an Al Qaeda member with ties to the organisation's senior leadership, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

The October 17 strike near Idlib northwestern Syria killed Haydar Kirkan, who "was intent on plotting and carrying out attacks against the West", Pentagon Spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said.

"He was a long serving and experienced courier for Al Qaeda in Syria. He had ties to Al Qaeda's senior leaders to include Osama Bin Laden himself, and he was Al Qaeda's senior external terror attack planner in Syria," Davis said, without describing any of the purported plots.

In recent weeks, the Pentagon has targeted other Al Qaeda members. 

On October 23, US drone strikes targeted two top Al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan.

While officials have not confirmed any deaths, they are privately confident the strikes killed Farouq Al Qahtani, Al Qaeda’s emir for northeastern Afghanistan, and his deputy Bilal Al Utabi.

On October 21 in Yemen, five Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) members were killed in a US air strike, including local AQAP leader Abu Hadi Al Bayhani, Davis said.

“Al Qaeda doesn’t recognise borders when they conspire to commit terrorist attacks against the West, and we will continue to work with our partners and allies to find and destroy their leaders, their fighters and their cells that are planning attacks externally,” Davis said.