Idlib (Syria), Aug 23 (AP) A drone strike in northwestern Syria on Friday killed a Saudi militant from an al-Qaida-linked group as he was riding on a motorcycle, a war monitor and local residents said.

The strike in the Jabal al-Zawiya area of the opposition-held Idlib province was believed to have been carried out by a US-led coalition that was established years ago to fight the militant Islamic State group.

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There was no immediate comment from the US military, which has carried out a series of attacks over the past several years targeting al-Qaida-linked militants in northwestern Syria.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitoring group, said the killed man was identified as Abu Abdul Rahman Makki, a Saudi citizen and former leader of the now-defunct extremist Jund al-Aqsa militant group.

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Local media activist Kenana Hindawi said the motorcycle Makki was riding was hit by two missiles.

The US National Counterterrorism Centre currently lists Makki as a leader in the Horas al-Din, or “Guardians of Religion”, group, which includes hardcore al-Qaida members who broke away from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the strongest insurgent group in Idlib province.

The Observatory noted that Makki had previously been imprisoned by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

Last year, a drone strike in Idlib killed two members of the Horas al-Din group. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)