The U.S.-led coalition announced that its forces killed a senior Islamic State (ISIS) militant in Syria on September 19.
The operative was described as responsible for planning attacks targeting Europe and the United States.
Iraq’s counterterrorism agency assisted the coalition in locating the militant, who was identified as Omar Abdul-Qader, also known by his nom de guerre Abdul-Rahman al-Halabi.
The U.S. Central Command stated that Abdul-Qader “posed a direct threat to the United States.” According to the Iraqi counterterrorism agency, he was the head of ISIS’s foreign operations and had been involved in the 2013 bombing of the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, which killed more than 20 people, including Iran’s cultural attaché.
“We will not stop pursuing terrorists who seek to target the United States, our forces, or our overseas allies and partners,” said U.S. Central Command Admiral Brad Cooper.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict, reported that Abdul-Qader was killed during a U.S.-led coalition operation in Syria’s Hama province. None of the attacks he had planned were carried out.
Rami Abdurrahman, head of the Observatory, noted that Abdul-Qader, a Syrian citizen, had been arrested in Lebanon and handed over to Damascus authorities during President Bashar al-Assad’s tenure. After Assad’s removal in December last year, Abdul-Qader escaped prison and had been on the run since.
ISIS once controlled large swaths of Syria and Iraq, declaring a caliphate in 2014. The group was notorious for brutal actions in the region and for planning deadly attacks worldwide. Although defeated in Iraq in 2017 and Syria in 2019, ISIS still maintains active cells.
