• U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces have confirmed the identity of the ISIS leader killed in a raid in Syria on Monday morning.
  • Abd-al-Hadi Mahmud al-Haji Ali was a senior ISIS leader responsible for planning terror attacks in the Middle East and Europe.
  • Two other ISIS operatives were also killed in the raid, which was launched after learning of an ISIS plot to kidnap officials.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces named the ISIS leader killed in a raid Monday morning, CENTCOM confirmed in a tweet Monday afternoon.

Abd-al-Hadi Mahmud al-Haji Ali was a senior ISIS Syria leader and operational planner behind terror attacks in the Middle East and Europe, CENTCOM said in a statement posted to Twitter.

“This was the ISIS leader who was killed in a unilateral helicopter raid in northern Syria today that was announced this morning,” CENTCOM said in a statement shared to Twitter. “Abd-al-Hadi Mahmud al-Haji Ali was the primary target of the raid.”

A woman walks past a house following a U.S. helicopter raid on an Islamic State group leader, in Soueida near Jarablus, in the north-east of Syria’s Aleppo province, on April 17. A U.S. helicopter raid targeted a senior Islamic State group leader in Syria suspected of plotting attacks in Europe and the Middle East, U.S. Central Command said.
BAKR ALKASEM/AFP via Getty Images

Two other ISIS operatives also were killed in the raid.

CENTCOM launched the raid after learning of an ISIS plot to kidnap officials and then use them as collateral for ISIS initiatives.

“We know ISIS retains the desire to strike beyond the Middle East,” CENTCOM spokesperson Col. Joe Buccino said in a statement. “We are therefore committed to the enduring defeat of ISIS.”

ISIS, also known as Islamic State, is designated a terrorist group by the U.S. The terrorist group has since lost the power it had in 2013 and 2014, but the organization is still considered dangerous and remains a priority for CENTCOM.

“While ISIS’ territorial caliphate is defeated, they remain a transnational threat,” CENTCOM said in August 2022, adding that “their desire to regenerate” and operate overseas “threatens the U.S. homeland,” Newsweek reported earlier today.

Newsweek reached out to CENTCOM for comment by email.

This is a developing story and will be updated.