CNN
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The United States announced Saturday that it carried out a deadly strike in Syria against an al Qaeda-affiliated leader who it claims had direct ties to an ISIS attacker who killed three Americans in early December.
“The death of a terrorist operator linked to the deaths of three Americans demonstrates our determination to pursue terrorists who attack our forces,” Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), said in a statement on X.
CENTCOM reported that Bilal Hasan al-Jasim “was an experienced terrorist leader” and “was directly linked” to the ISIS attacker who killed two members of the U.S. Armed Forces and a civilian interpreter on December 13, 2025 in Palmyra, Syria.
CNN has contacted CENTCOM for comment on the attack and details about the leader’s alleged ties to the December attack.
The United States has been responding to ISIS following the deadly ambush through a series of attacks under the campaign dubbed “Operation Hawkeye Strike.”
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth responded to CENTCOM’s post, writing in X: “We will never forget and we will never give in.”
