U.S. military says it killed Al Qaeda affiliate leader in northwest Syria

U.S. forces conducted a strike in northwest Syria on Friday that resulted in the death of an Al Qaeda affiliate leader who was tied to an ISIS shooter who ambushed and killed Americans last month, officials said.

U.S. Central Command said Sunday that the strike killed Bilal Hasan al-Jasim, whom the military described as “an experienced terrorist leader.”

Al-Jasim plotted attacks and was directly connected to the shooter in an ISIS ambush in Palmyra, Syria, on Dec. 13, Central Command said in a news release. In that attack, two U.S. service members and an American interpreter were killed, and other American and Syrian personnel were injured, U.S. officials have said.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on X in December that U.S. partner forces killed the person who carried out the attack.

“The death of a terrorist operative linked to the deaths of three Americans demonstrates our resolve in pursuing terrorists who attack our forces,” Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander, said in a statement Saturday. “There is no safe place for those who conduct, plot, or inspire attacks on American citizens and our warfighters. We will find you.”

President Donald Trump vowed retaliation following the December ambush, calling it “an ISIS attack against the U.S.” The Defense Department said the incident happened during a counterterrorism engagement.

Last week, the U.S. continued large-scale strikes in Syria as part of an operation dubbed Hawkeye Strike. The operation has seen U.S. and partner forces hit more than 100 ISIS infrastructure and weapons site targets “with over 200 precision munitions,” Central Command said. The strikes began in December when U.S. forces targeted ISIS strongholds in Syria.

The U.S. and partner forces have captured more than 300 ISIS operatives and killed over 20 across Syria over the past year, “removing terrorists who posed a direct threat to the United States and regional security,” the news release said.