The US-led international coalition, in coordination with partner forces, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced it “conducted a raid in Syria” that killed Omar Abdulqadir. CENTCOM said, “This operation demonstrates our commitment to pursue terrorists who seek to attack the United States, our forces, or our allies,” Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of CENTCOM credited US personnel and “coalition partners” for the mission’s success.
The Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (ICTS) confirmed his death, describing him as the overseer of ISIS’s so-called “remote provinces” and one of the group’s top planners for cross-border operations. According to ICTS he was responsible for ISIS operations and external security, including the 2013 bombing of the Iranian embassy in Lebanon and failed attempts to carry out attacks in Europe and the United States.
Series of Raids Across Northern Syria
Friday’s strikes follow a string of coalition-led operations against ISIS figures in recent months. On August 20, coalition forces conducted an airdrop in Atma, in Idlib province, killing an Iraqi national identified as a senior leader and arresting five people.
Last July, CENTCOM confirmed a raid in the city of Bab, in Aleppo province, that killed senior ISIS commander Dhiaa Zubaa Musleh al-Hardani and two of his sons, who were also members of the group. US officials said the men posed a direct threat to coalition forces and the transitional Syrian government.
ISIS Vows Retaliation
The extremist group condemned the strikes in its weekly newspaper Al-Naba, calling the August 20 Atma raid “more heinous than the chemical massacres” of the Assad era. The publication described Syria’s transitional government as “an enemy of Islam” and accused the West of “creating tyrants with jihadist backgrounds” to fight ISIS.
Despite the rhetoric, coalition officials maintain that continued pressure is necessary to prevent ISIS from regaining strength. More than six senior ISIS leaders have been killed in Syria over the past two months, according to the Iraqi News Agency.
