U.S. Eliminates Al-Qaeda Leader Linked to Killing of American Troops in Syria
U.S. airstrikes have eliminated Bilal Hassan al-Jasim, one of the leaders of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda in Syria, who was involved in the killing of American troops.
The operation was announced by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on the social media platform X.
The search for and elimination of al-Jasim followed the killing of two American soldiers and a translator in December 2025.
At that time, U.S. special operations soldiers Sergeant Edgar Bryan Torres-Tovar and Sergeant William Nathaniel Howard, along with translator Ayad Mansour Sakat, were killed by a militant later identified as an employee of Syria’s internal security service.
CENTCOM said the eliminated Al-Qaeda leader had direct links to the attacker who ambushed U.S. forces near Palmyra.
It is worth noting that the elimination of al-Jasim marked another stage of the large-scale Hawkeye Strike operation.
The Pentagon launched this campaign immediately after the December tragedy, involving allied air forces to destroy infrastructure and weapons depots belonging to the Islamic State.
During the raids, the military employed more than 200 precision-guided munitions against around 100 militant targets.
Overall, over the past year, U.S. forces in the region have detained more than 300 militants and eliminated 20 operatives.
This campaign has been ongoing since 2014, when the United States launched the large-scale Inherent Resolve mission aimed at destroying Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.
In addition to U.S. air power and ground units, allies have joined the fight against terrorists: the United Kingdom as part of Operation Shader, France under Operation Chammal, Canadian forces (Operation Impact), and other countries.
Militarnyi previously reported that British and French aircraft carried out airstrikes on the tunnel networks of an Islamic State underground facility in the mountains near Palmyra.
The British used Paveway IV precision-guided bombs launched from Typhoon FGR4 fighter jets, supported by a Voyager aerial refueling aircraft. French forces deployed Rafale fighter jets armed with HAMMER (AASM) precision-guided munitions.
