US kills ISIS leader during airstrike in Syria: CENTCOM

The United States military on Thursday killed an Islamic State (ISIS) leader during an precision airstrike in Syria, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed on Friday.

The strike targeted and killed the ISIS leader Abu Yusif, also known as Mahmud, in the Dayr az Zawr Province of Syria, which was formerly controlled by Russia and the previous Syrian regime. Another ISIS operative was also killed in the strike, but his name was not disclosed.

The airstrike was part of the U.S.’s ongoing operations in the Middle East to “disrupt and degrade efforts by terrorists to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against civilians and military personnel from the U.S., our allies, and our partners throughout the region and  beyond,” the command said.

“ISIS has the intent to break out of detention the over 8,000 ISIS operatives currently being held in facilities in Syria,” CENTCOM commander Gen. Erik Kurilla said in a statement. “We will aggressively target these leaders and operatives, including those trying to conduct operations external to Syria.”

The airstrike occurred the same day that the Pentagon reported that the number of U.S. forces in Syria has doubled, despite its continued insistence that only 900 U.S. forces were in the Middle Eastern country. In reality, there are now 2,000 troops in Syria.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just the News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.