U.S. Drone Strike Kills Senior Al-Qaeda Planner in Syria

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on October 7 that a precision drone strike in northwestern Syria killed a top Al-Qaeda-linked planner who had long been involved in orchestrating attacks against U.S. and coalition forces.

The strike, conducted on Oct. 2 in Idlib province, was aimed at Muhammad Abd-al-Wahhab al-Ahmad — a mid-40s Syrian citizen and high-ranking member of Ansar al-Islam, an Al-Qaeda-linked group. CENTCOM characterized him as a main actor tasked with coordinating operations, facilitating financing, and recruiting combatants throughout Idlib and Aleppo.

Under CENTCOM estimates, al-Ahmad had been on the move since 2012, working from isolated strongholds and avoiding arrest by means of encrypted communications networks. U.S. intelligence had monitored his activities for months before approving the strike, which went off without reported civilian casualties.

His passing is a setback for Ansar al-Islam, a proxy force for Al-Qaeda's activities in Syria. The organization was responsible for some tried and failed attacks over recent years, including a 2024 foiled car bombing attempt against a U.S. base in Deir ez-Zor.

Idlib is still a base for thousands of foreign fighters and terrorist elements despite Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) dominance. Al-Ahmad survived HTS purges in 2017-2020 by merging with civilian populations and communicating with Al-Qaeda's worldwide network through secure means, as per a July 2025 United Nations Security Council report.