Video: US kills senior leader of Al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate through precision airstrike
A US airstrike in Northwest Syria killed Muhammed Yusuf Ziya Talay, a senior leader of the Al-Qaeda affiliate Hurras al-Din, on February 23.
The United States army announced on Saturday that it killed a senior military leader of the terrorist organisation linked to Al-Qaeda in Northwest Syria. The leader of the terrorist organisation was killed in a precision airstrike carried out by the US Army in February this year, the US Central Command announced.

“On Feb. 23, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted a precision airstrike in Northwest Syria, targeting and killing Muhammed Yusuf Ziya Talay, the senior military leader of the terrorist organization Hurras al-Din (HaD), an Al-Qaeda affiliate,” the US Central Command said in a post on X.
“The airstrike is part of CENTCOM's ongoing commitment, along with partners in the region, to disrupt and degrade efforts by terrorists to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against civilians and military personnel from the U.S., our allies, and our partners throughout the region and beyond,” it added.
They also shared visuals of the strike, which shows a car moving through deserted plains being shot precisely at the driver seat. The car comes to a stop after a while with dent marks where it was shot.
Following the strike, Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, commander of US Central Command said, “As we have said in the past, we will continue to relentlessly pursue these terrorists in order to defend our homeland, and U.S., allied, and partner personnel in the region.”
The US Central Command is in charge of the country’s army operations in the middle east.
In a similar fashion, the US forces announced that they killed Wasim Tahsin Bayraqdar, a senior leadership facilitator of Hurras al-Din on February 21 through a precision airstrike.
Hurras al-Din, which the US considers as Al-Qaeda’s “formal presence in Syria”, announced its dissolution in January this year, according to an AFP report. The group dissolved itself after the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was toppled by rebel forces in December 2024. The recent strikes taking out the leaders of Hurras al-Din by the US forces come after the organisation’s dissolution.