U.S. airstrike kills senior al-Qaeda leader in Syria, DOD says

What they're saying: "The removal of this al-Qaeda senior leader will disrupt the terrorist organization’s ability to further plot and carry out global attacks threatening U.S. citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians," Rigsbee said in the statement.

• U.S. Central Command currently has "no indications of civilian casualties."
• The strike was conducted using an MQ-9 aircraft.
• "The U.S. will continue to target members of al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations who intend to harm the U.S. homeland," Rigsbee added.

The big picture: The airstrike comes days after two drone strikes and some rockets targeted a military outpost in southern Syria that houses U.S. and coalition troops, AP reports.

• Officials called it a coordinated attack, though no American soldiers were injured or killed.
• Central Command did not address the earlier attack in the Friday statement about al-Matar.

In a separate incident this week, a roadside bomb exploded near Syrian troops and killed at least 13 people in Damascus.

Worth noting: The Biden administration faced backlash earlier this year after the Pentagon admitted a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan killed 10 civilians instead of an ISIS-K leader as initially claimed.