A US drone strike in northern Syria killed a top Islamic State (ISIS) figure responsible for planning terror attacks in Europe and Turkey, US Central Command announced Tuesday.

The man killed in Monday’s strike was identified as Khalid Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri, with CENTCOM saying his death “will temporarily disrupt the organization’s ability to plot external attacks.”

No civilians were killed or injured. 

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday that one person was killed in a drone strike near the rebel-held village of Kaftin, north of Idlib.

The opposition’s Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, said it evacuated the man from the scene of the attack, but he later succumbed to his wounds.

The strike was the latest in a series of operations targeting both Al Qaeda-linked militants and senior ISIS members in northwestern Syria.

Gen. Michael Kurilla, CENTCOM’s commander, said in a statement that ISIS continues to be a threat to the “region and beyond.”

“Though degraded, the group remains able to conduct operations within the region with a desire to strike beyond the Middle East,” he said.

At its peak in 2014, ISIS controlled a third of Iraq and Syria, territory which it declared a “caliphate” and used as a base from which to plot and carry out attacks across Europe. However, the frequency and scale of those operations have fallen off in recent years as the terror group has been pushed back on the battlefield.

Jabouri had been tracked over the last few months as he traveled between the towns of Hasaka, Raqqa, Jarablus and al-Bab, Reuters reported, citing an intelligence source.

“They got an informant tip that he is in Idlib [province] so they put him under surveillance for a while and then executed the strike,” the source said.

Jabouri was killed as he made a phone call near his home on the outskirts of Kaftin, Reuters reported. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Jabouri had moved to the town about 10 days ago.  

Most of those killed by US strikes in rebel-held Idlib province have been members of Al Qaeda offshoot Horas al-Din, which is Arabic for “Guardians of Religion.” The group includes hardcore Al Qaeda members who broke away from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the strongest insurgent group in Idlib province.

In February, a drone strike killed two men whom local activists initially identified as Horas al-Din members. The Observatory later said that one of the two killed was a senior member of the ISIS group that was defeated in Syria in March 2019.

With Post wires