WASHINGTON — The U.S.-led military coalition against the Islamic State killed a key leader in Syria who had direct ties to the terrorists who carried out the attacks in Paris and was planning more attacks against the West, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
Army Col. Steve Warren, the top spokesman for the coalition, told reporters that Charaffe al Mouadan was killed Dec. 24 in an airstrike. He declined to say where in Syria the attack occurred and described it as part of a wave of attacks carried out since Dec. 7 that have killed 10 Islamic State leaders, including others involved in “external operations” that included plotting attacks in the West.
“My point is this: We will continue to hunt ISIL leaders who are working to recruit, plan and inspire attacks against the United States of America and our allies,” Warren said, using an acronym for the Islamic State militant group.
The attacks in Paris killed 130 people on Nov. 13. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for them, and the suspected leader of the attackers, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was killed in a police raid in a Paris suburb five days later.
