US Kills Al-Qaeda Leader Linked to Deadly ISIS Attack on US Troops

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Jan. 16 a deadly strike on a leader affiliated with the al-Qaeda terrorist group in northeast Syria.

The man had direct ties to an attack from the ISIS terrorist group that killed two U.S. service members and an interpreter on Dec. 13, 2025, according to a Jan. 17 CENTCOM post on X.

“The death of a terrorist operative linked to the deaths of three Americans demonstrates our resolve in pursuing terrorists who attack our forces,” Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander, said.

“There is no safe place for those who conduct, plot, or inspire attacks on American citizens and our warfighters. We will find you.”

CENTCOM described the al-Qaeda leader, Bilal Hasan al-Jasim, as an experienced terrorist who has plotted attacks and was directly connected to the ISIS terrorist who fatally shot and injured American and Syrian personnel in the ambush in December 2025 in Palmyra, Syria.

The two Americans killed were members of the Iowa National Guard. They were identified as 25-year-old Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres Tovar of Des Moines, Iowa, and 29-year-old Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard of Marshalltown, Iowa.

“Their mission was in support of ongoing counter-ISIS [and] counter-terrorism operations in the region,” Gen. Steven Nordhaus, head of the National Guard Bureau, previously said in a statement. “Our hearts are with their families, loved ones and the Iowa National Guard during this time of profound sorrow.

“We honor their courage and sacrifice, and we will never forget them or their service. We are also thinking of and praying for the families of the civilian interpreter who was killed, and the three other Guardsmen who were wounded. May God place his healing hand upon them.”

Howard was the son of the police chief for the Meskwaki Nation Police Department in Iowa.

“Our son Nate was one of the Soldiers that paid the ultimate sacrifice for all of us, to keep us all safer,” Chief Jeffrey Bunn wrote on social media after the deadly attack. “He loved what he was doing and would be the first in and last out, no one left behind.”

President Donald Trump had pledged “serious retaliation” against the terrorist group. Shortly after the attack, U.S. forces launched widespread, devastating strikes in Syria.

During the mission, called Hawkeye Strike, U.S. and partner forces hit more than 100 ISIS infrastructure and weapons site targets. Over the past year, the United States and allied forces have captured more than 300 ISIS operatives and killed more than 20, CENTCOM said.

“This was an ISIS attack against the U.S., and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them,” Trump said in a social media post. The U.S. president also told reporters at the White House on the day of the attack that Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, was “devastated by what happened.”

Al-Sharaa assumed control of Syria after the fall of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad and his regime in December 2024. The ISIS attack on the U.S. service members became the first of its kind since Assad’s departure.

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth backed up Trump’s response to the terrorist attack on Americans in December 2025.

“Let it be known, if you target Americans—anywhere in the world—you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you,” Hegseth said in a post on X.

This latest strike on the al-Qaeda leader is the third such retaliatory attack in Syria since the ISIS ambush in December 2025.