US military says senior Islamic State group leader killed in Syria air strike

US military says senior Islamic State group leader killed in Syria air strike US Central Command on Wednesday said that US forces had conducted an air strike in northwestern Syria that killed Ali Husayn al-Ulaywi, a senior Islamic State group leader, last Friday. The US military conducted an airstrike in northwestern Syria last week that killed a senior Islamic State (IS) group leader, US Central Command said on Wednesday. The strike, carried out on Friday, was part "of ongoing US efforts to disrupt and eliminate terrorists seeking to attack Americans abroad or the US homeland" and killed Ali Husayn al-Ulaywi, it said in a statement on X. The IS group has declared a new phase of operations in Syria against the government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa, carrying out a spate of attacks since February. Last year, Sharaa's government joined the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group. Read moreIn post-Assad Syria, displaced people await reconstruction On Saturday, the militant group claimed responsibility for an attack near the city of Manbij in Syria's northeastern Aleppo province. The IS group controlled around a quarter or more of Syria at the peak of its power during the Syrian civil war a decade ago, before being driven out of the territory by a US-led coalition and other foes. (FRANCE 24 with Reuters)