US Drone Strike Kills Islamic State Syria Chief: Pentagon

A man who US officials called the leader of the Islamic State militant group in Syria was killed Tuesday in a drone strike while riding a motorcycle in the northern part of the country, the Pentagon and local organizations said. Maher al-Agal was killed near Jindires in northern Syria, and one of his top aides was seriously injured in the attack, Pentagon Central Command spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn told AFP. The volunteer Syrian Civil Defense Force, known as the "White Helmets," said the attack targeted the two while they were on a motorcycle outside Aleppo. President Joe Biden said the strike "takes a key terrorist off the field and significantly degrades the ability of ISIS to plan, resource, and conduct their operations in the region." The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed Agal's death and said he was the Islamic State governor for the Levant region.