US airstrike kills senior al-Qaeda leader in Syria two days after American military outpost was hit by coordinated attack

 The U.S. military says it killed a senior al-Qaeda leader in an airstrike Friday in northwest Syria.

Army Maj. John Rigsbee, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said in a statement that Abdul Hamid al-Matar was killed by a drone strike.

Rigsbee said the killing of al-Matar will disrupt al-Qaeda's 'ability to further plot and carry out global attacks threatening U.S. citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians.' 

The strike was conducted using a MQ-9 aircraft. 

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Army Maj. John Rigsbee, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said in a statement that Abdul Hamid al-Matar was killed by a drone strike. The strike was conducted using a MQ-9 aircraft (like the one pictured above)

He said al-Qaeda 'uses Syria as a base for threats reaching into Syria, Iraq and beyond.'

The drone strike came two days after a U.S. military outpost in southern Syria was hit by a coordinated attack that included drones and rockets. 

U.S. officials said no American troops stationed there were injured or killed.