Intel: Al-Qaeda branch confirms US drone killed Zarqawi relative in Syria
An al-Qaeda branch in northwest Syria has confirmed that a US drone strike earlier this month killed one of the group’s most senior leaders, a veteran Jordanian jihadi who had been close to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
An al-Qaeda branch in northwest Syria has confirmed that a US drone strike earlier this month killed one of the group’s most senior leaders, a veteran Jordanian jihadi who had been the brother-in-law of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Huras al-Din, an al-Qaeda branch in northwest Syria, released a statement Wednesday saying that Khaled al-Aruri, also known as Abul Qassam al-Urduni, was killed as a result of a US strike on a vehicle he was in earlier this month in Idlib province.
Aruri was headed to a meeting of local militant leaders in order to form a military cooperation body, the statement read.
Video of the vehicle appeared to show it had been struck with a non-explosive missile bearing long metal blades, possibly the RX9 Hellfire missile, which the US military and CIA have used in prior strikes to limit collateral damage. The United States took credit for the strike last week.
