CENTCOM: Eliminating one of the most prominent leaders of the Guardians of Religion organization in a precise airstrike in northern Syria

The US military announced Sunday that the United States had killed a leader of the Guardians of Religion organization, an al Qaeda branch in Syria that had recently announced its dissolution.

“On February 15, US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted a precision airstrike in northwest Syria, targeting and killing a senior financial and logistics official for the Guardians of Religion organization, an al-Qaeda affiliate,” the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on X.

“This strike is part of Central Command’s ongoing commitment, alongside our partners in the region, to disrupt and degrade terrorists’ efforts to plan, organize and execute attacks,” the statement added.

The Guardians of Religion, which the United States classified as a terrorist organization, announced its dissolution after the fall of President Bashar al Assad’s regime, revealing for the first time officially that it was the branch of al Qaeda in Syria.

The Guardians of Religion organization was founded in 2018 and was active in areas in northwestern Syria.

In September 2019, the US State Department designated the Guardians of Religion organization as a “global terrorist entity”.

The United States has repeatedly announced targeting leaders of the organization.

In September, the US military announced that it had carried out two strikes in Syria that killed 37 terrorists, including members of the Islamic State and Guardians of Religion.

The previous month, the US military said it had killed a senior Guardians of Religion leader, Abu Abdul Rahman al Makki, in an airstrike in northwestern Syria.

The new Syrian authorities had previously announced the dissolution of all armed factions in the country as part of a series of decisions taken for the transitional phase less than two months after the overthrow of Assad.

The United States has at least 2,500 troops in Iraq and about 2,000 in neighboring Syria, as part of the international coalition to combat the Islamic State.

Washington confirmed that it had intensified air strikes since the fall of Assad, December 8, the United States announced that it had carried out strikes targeting more than 75 sites belonging to the Islamic State organization.