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Updated September 21st, 2021 at 15:32 IST

Pentagon: Airstrike kills al-Qaeda leader in Syria

The Pentagon says a drone strike hit a vehicle traveling in rebel-controlled northwestern Syria on Monday, killing a senior al-Qaida leader.

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The Pentagon says a drone strike hit a vehicle traveling in rebel-controlled northwestern Syria on Monday, killing a senior al-Qaida leader.

Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby said the airstrike was conducted near Idlib, Syria and there are no initial indications of any civilian casualtes.

The U.S. has carried out attacks in Idlib before, targeting al-Qaeda militants and the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was hiding in the province after fleeing from eastern Syria.

Large parts of Idlib and neighboring Aleppo province remain in the hands of Syrian armed opposition, dominated by radical groups including the once al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

Kirby also said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has directed the secretary of the Air Force to appoint a senior officer to handle the review of the ill-fated Kabul airstrike last month that killed ten civilians, including seven children.

"Part of that review will be to examine the investigation itself, the thoroughness of the investigation," Kirby said.

To study the degree to which any policies, procedures or targeting mechanisms may need to be altered going forward, if any. And, of course, to then take a look at what levels of accountability might be appropriate and if so, at what level," he said.

Kirby said the review is expected to take 45 days.

Finally, Kirby said the Department of Homeland Security is asking the Defense Department for transportation support in what may be one of the swiftest, large-scale expulsions of migrants and refugees from the United States in decades.

"Under this request, the (Defense) Department would provide contracted air transportation for Customs and Border Patrol on a reimbursable basis to temporarily supplement CBP efforts to move non-U.S. citizen migrants from Del Rio, Texas, to other domestic CBP processing facilities," Kirby said.

The number of Haitian and other migrants at a bridge in Del Rio peaked at 14,872 on Saturday, according to the president of the National Border Patrol Council, a labor union that represents agents.

More than 6,000 of these migrants have been removed as of Monday.

More than 320 migrants arrived in Port-au-Prince on three flights Sunday, and Haiti said six flights are expected Tuesday.

 

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Published September 21st, 2021 at 15:32 IST

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