ISTANBUL 

US forces killed a senior leader of al-Qaeda-linked Hurras al-Din in an airstrike in northwestern Syria, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Saturday.

The strike, conducted Friday as part of the US' ongoing counterterrorism operations with regional partners, killed Wasim Tahsin Bayraqdar, a senior leadership facilitator, CENTCOM said in a statement on X.

"We will relentlessly pursue and destroy terrorist threats, no matter their location, in order to protect our homeland and our allies and partners," said Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, commander of CENTCOM.