Headline Roundup • July 9th, 2023
ISIS Leader Killed by US Drones in Airstrike, Central Command Confirms
Summary from the AllSides News Team
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced Sunday that ISIS leader Usamah al-Muhajir was killed in an airstrike by U.S. forces.
Key Quotes: CENTCOM confirmed the strike in a statement, reading, “On July 7, U.S. Central Command conducted a strike in Syria that resulted in the death of Usamah al-Muhajir, an ISIS leader in eastern Syria.” The statement then quotes Gen. Michael Kurilla, commander of CENTCOM, stating, “We have made it clear that we remain committed to the defeat of ISIS throughout the region. ISIS remains a threat, not only to the region but well beyond.” According to the statement, the drones involved in the strike were “harassed by Russian aircraft in an encounter that had lasted almost two hours” earlier in the day.
Details: The United States military currently has roughly 900 service members deployed in Syria, working alongside the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to fight remaining ISIS forces, according to coverage from Fox News (Right bias). According to ABC News (Lean Left bias), American forces typically operate out of eastern Syria. Russian forces, backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, typically operate in western Syria. CENTCOM stated there was “no indication” of civilian casualties during the strike, but that they were “assessing reports of a civilian injury.”
How The Media Covered It: The airstrike was covered moderately Sunday. Coverage across the spectrum focused heavily on the note about the incident involving the Russian aircraft.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Delil Souleiman/AFP via Getty Images
U.S. forces killed ISIS leader Usamah al-Muhajir in an airstrike in eastern Syria on Friday, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced in a Sunday statement.
Al-Muhajir was killed by the same MQ-9 reaper drones that had been harassed by Russian aircraft in the region. The two incidents occurred the same day, the U.S. says, with the drones carrying out the strike after the interaction with Russian craft.
"We have made it clear that we remain committed to the defeat of ISIS throughout the region," said CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael Kurilla. "ISIS...
Giuseppe Cacace/AFP via Getty Images
The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) on Sunday confirmed that a drone airstrike from Friday successfully killed an ISIS leader in Syria.
The official statement announcing the news was shared across various platforms, including CENTCOM's official Twitter account. In it, the agency confirmed the death of ISIS leader Usamah Al-Muhajir, with the airstrike taking place in an unspecified part of Eastern Syria.
"This will disrupt and degrade ISIS's ability to plan and conduct terror attacks," the official statement read. "However, CENTCOM's operations against ISIS, alongside partner forces in Iraq and...
United States Air Force
Three MQ-9 Reaper drones the U.S. military said had been "harassed" by Russian fighter jets over Syria on Friday were the same drones that later carried out an airstrike that killed a top Islamic State group leader, U.S. Central Command announced Sunday.
IS leader Usama-al-Muhajir was killed on Friday, CENTCOM said.
The news capped three straight days of tense encounters where the U.S. had criticized Russian pilots for "unsafe and unprofessional" behavior with its drones flying over Syria.
