The US-led coalition in Syria launched a drone strike in the Idlib province, targeting a car, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Thursday.
US Central Command later confirmed that its forces launched a strike targeting a “senior operative” of Hurras al-Din, an al-Qaeda affiliate. Hurras al-Din just announced on Tuesday that it was dissolving, saying its goals were completed by the regime change that ousted former President Bashar al-Assad.
The attack marks the first known US airstrike under the new Trump administration. It comes about a month and a half after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an offshoot of al-Qaeda, took power in Damascus with support from the US. Hurras al-Din was formed by former HTS members in 2018, and the groups share a similar ideology.
The damage to the vehicle suggested it was hit by a US-made AGM-114R9X Hellfire missile, nicknamed the “Flying Ginsu,” which shreds its target with razor-sharp blades instead of using an explosive warhead.
The SOHR said the strike marked the second in Idlib launched by the US-led coalition this month. On January 15, a few days before Trump was inaugurated, a coalition drone reportedly fired three rockets at a motorcycle, killing the rider and a boy who was walking nearby.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights said the motorcycle rider was a member of Hurras al-Din, while SOHR described him as a former member of ISIS. SOHR said a third person was killed in the attack.