Pentagon Confirms Death of Top al-Qaida Operative

The Pentagon on Thursday confirmed the death of a prominent al-Qaida leader who was targeted this week in a coalition airstrike in Syria.

Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said a U.S. strike near Idlib on Monday killed Abu al-Farai al-Masri.

Cook called al-Masri’s death “a significant disruption to al-Qaida senior leadership” and “a blow to their ability to plot external attacks.”

The Pentagon announced the strike shortly after it occurred Monday but took three days to verify that the target had been killed.