Washington, Oct 23 (TIWN) The US military said that a drone strike in Syria killed a senior Al Qaeda leader.

There were no known casualties from the strike, he said, adding it was conducted using an MQ-9 aircraft.  "The removal of this al-Qaeda senior leader will disrupt the terrorist organization's ability to further plot and carry out global attacks," he said.  At the end of September the Pentagon killed Salim Abu-Ahmad, another senior al-Qaeda commander in Syria, in an airstrike near Idlib in the country's northwest.  Daily newsletter Receive essential international news every morning  Subscribe He had been responsible for "planning, funding, and approving trans-regional al-Qaeda attacks," according to Centcom. 

"Al-Qaeda continues to present a threat to America and our allies. Al-Qaeda uses Syria as a safe haven to rebuild, coordinate with external affiliates, and plan external operations," Rigsbee said.  The ongoing war in Syria has created a complex battlefield involving foreign armies, militias and jihadists.  The war has killed around half a million people since starting in 2011 with a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests.