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A suspected U.S. drone strike on the Turkish-occupied part of northern Aleppo has reportedly claimed the lives of two individuals affiliated with ISIS.
The two individuals were traveling on a motorcycle in the vicinity of the city of al-Bab on June 20 morning, when they were targeted by a combat drone. Local sources said the drone was of the “U.S.-led coalition.”
The scene of the strike showed no signs of an explosion. This suggests that the motorcycle was targeted with a U.S.-made AGM-114R9X Hellfire missile.
Update1: two people were killed in the strike according to local sources pic.twitter.com/EHe1I7K24f
— Within Syria (@WithinSyriaBlog) June 20, 2020
Update 2: A video from the scene shows very little damage, which suggest that this was an AGM-114 R9X strike. The bodies of the two targeted men were cut into pieces. pic.twitter.com/GDAjVHWHsM
— Within Syria (@WithinSyriaBlog) June 20, 2020
The AGM-114R9X, dubbed “Ninja Bomb,” is a Hellfire copy with a kinetic warhead consisting of pop-out blades meant to to reduce collateral damage. First deployed in secret since 2017, with existence revealed in 2019.
An ID issued by the Turkish-backed Local Council of the Town of Akhtarin was found with one of the individuals killed in drone strike. The ID carried the name of “Ahmad Hussein al-Darwish,” supposedly born on March 3, 1983.
Update 5: an ID found with one of the two men who were killed in al-Bab drone strike. The ID, which is issued by the local council of Ikhtarin, carries the name of “Ahmed Darwish,” supposedly 37-year old. pic.twitter.com/W95dd8YifC
— Within Syria (@WithinSyriaBlog) June 20, 2020
The Violation Documentation Center in North Syria said al-Darwish was a senior security commander of ISIS. He was allegedly living in the town of Dabiq northwest of al-Bab. These claims are yet to be verified.
The U.S. has a history of assassinating ISIS commanders in the Turkish-occupied areas in northern Syria. Last month, the military commander of ISIS’ “Hama Wilayat,” Abu Zaki al-Taibani, was killed in a drone strike in Afrin.
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