A senior IS official closely associated with Maher was seriously wounded in the strike, the Central Command said in a statement. An initial examination showed no civilian casualties.
“Removing these ISIS leaders will impede the terrorist organization’s ability to plan and carry out attacks,” said Col. Joe Buccino, a spokesman for Central Command.
The strike took place outside Jindeiris in northwest Syria, the statement said.
“Removing these IS leaders will disrupt the terrorist organization’s ability to plan and carry out attacks,” Buccino added.
Tuesday’s strike was part of ongoing efforts to fight IS, as the terror group has seen a resurgence in parts of Syria and Iraq in recent months.
President Joe Biden said the killing “takes a key terrorist out of the field and significantly impairs ISIS’s ability to plan, resource and conduct its operations in the region.”
“Like the US operation in February that eliminated the overall leader of ISIS, it sends a powerful message to all terrorists who threaten our homeland and our interests around the world,” Biden wrote in a statement Tuesday. “The United States will be relentless in its efforts to bring you to justice.
He thanked members of the armed forces and said the strike “demonstrates that the United States does not need thousands of soldiers on combat missions to identify and eliminate threats to our country.”
In June, the US-led Joint Task Force to Counter ISIS detained a senior ISIS leader in the country.
“Hani Ahmed al-Kurdi, known as Salim, was responsible for coordinating terrorist activities in the region,” the coalition said in a statement. “He instructed others to make explosive devices, supported the construction of improvised explosive device facilities, and facilitated attacks against US and partner forces.”
It came several months after ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi was killed during a US counter-terrorism operation in northwestern Syria. The operation was the largest US operation in the country since the 2019 mission that killed IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Last September, the military attacked a senior al Qaeda leader near Idlib, Syria, according to a Central Command statement. A month later, the military carried out a drone strike against Abdul Hamid al-Matar, another senior al Qaeda leader, Central Command said.
And in December, the military attacked Musab Kinan, a senior leader of the al-Qaeda affiliate Hurras al-Din, near Idlib. Central Command launched an investigation into the possibility of civilian casualties from the strike, but the Pentagon was unable to provide updates at the time.
This story has been updated with additional background information and a statement from President Biden.
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