Early photos of ISIS leader in Syria Maher al-Agal’s death… and Biden comments
Just hours after the announcement that ISIS leader in Syria Maher al-Agal and his deputy were killed by a US drone strike, preliminary photographs of the incident were published.
According to pictures posted on social media, the body of al-Agal, who was severely burned, was mutilated and taken to an Idleb hospital.
On Tuesday morning, U.S. officials said that the strike killed senior ISIS leader Maher al-Agal, who was riding a motorcycle in the village when the U.S. missile targeted him, killing him instantly, in the Jindires area of Afrin, northwest of Aleppo, near the Syria-Turkey border
“The death of the ISIS leader in Syria removes a key terrorist from the field and significantly reduces the organization’s capabilities”, Biden said, noting that “the strike that resulted in the death of the ISIS leader in Syria is the culmination of rigorous intelligence work”.
In a statement, the White House added that U.S. military and intelligence forces had successfully carried out an airstrike in Syria against senior ISIS leader Maher al-Agal.
“Like the U.S. operation in February that decimated the ISIS leader, it sends a powerful message to all terrorists who threaten our homeland and our interests around the world”, Biden said.
“This air strike is proof of the courage and skill of our armed forces”, he said. It also shows that the United States is not asking for thousands of troops in combat missions to identify and eliminate threats facing our country.
According to the Daily Mail, the area where the al-Agal was killed has become a haven for hundreds of ISIS terrorists and leaders in recent years, who have taken advantage of the vast mountain ranges and fields to establish bases of operations amid the ongoing war.
The attack serves as a reminder of the US pledge to help the Syrian government in its fight against armed elements, the newspaper said.
What do we know about Maher al-Agal?
Maher al-Agal is one of four senior ISIS leaders and the movement’s leader in Syria; and is also responsible for efforts to expand ISIS networks beyond Iraq and Syria.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Maher al-Agal was carrying a fake ID with another name issued by the local council in Afrin, where he worked for the Ahrar al-Sharqiya faction.
Facilitated by Ahrar al-Sharqiya faction leaders, Maher al-Agal moved from the East Euphrates region in northern Syria in 2020 to the Afrin region, where he was a prominent ISIS leader at the time of the group’s takeover of Raqqa city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
ISIS plot
The Observatory said the slain terrorist leader was the brother of Fayez al-Agal, who served as the emir of the Delegated Committee (state administrations) before he was killed in a near-identical scene in al-Bab in June 2020.
Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said in a press statement that the dead man was the “wali of al-Sham” in ISIS and is considered the group’s number one figure in the “Levant”.
A batch of Syrian mercenaries leave Libyan territory
Maher al-Agal is a planner of ISIS operations in Syria and is responsible for financing the group from abroad to support its operations inside Syrian territory, both inside areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces and under the control of government forces, he said.
Al-Agal’s death will disrupt the group’s funding, which has increased significantly from the Syrian-Iraqi border in areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to Manbij or regime-controlled areas in the Syrian Desert, he said.
His death is a definite blow to ISIS, he said, because it has become clear that the group’s leaders are not immune to US attacks inside Syria, which would make the group’s leaders fearful of future US attacks.
