US eliminates one of the terrorist leaders in Syria

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces used a Hellfire R9X missile to destroy the leader of the al-Qaeda-affiliated Hurras al-Din terrorist organization in northwestern Syria.

The U.S. Central Command reported about this on its page on the social network X.

“On Feb. 21, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted a precision airstrike in Northwest Syria, killing Wasim Tahsin Bayraqdar, a senior leadership facilitator of the terrorist organization Hurras al-Din (HaD), an Al-Qaeda affiliate,” the Central Command said.

The U.S. Central Command did not disclose the details of the operation, but judging by the published photo, a special version of the Hellfire R9X multi-purpose missile was used for the liquidation. In this version, the conventional warhead is replaced by sword-like blades that open before hitting the target.

Such weapons allow the US government to eliminate individual terrorists and militants with an extremely low chance of causing collateral damage to civilians.

It is assumed that these weapons were used to eliminate Abu Khayr al-Masri, then-leader of al-Qaeda, while he was driving a KIA car in Syria in 2017 and one of the Taliban leaders in Afghanistan in 2020.

The exact configuration of the R9X missile is unknown, but on May 9, 2019, The Wall Street Journal published its own review of the unknown weapon, which they labeled AGM-114R9X and showed an approximate model of the missile.

Anonymous government sources told the publication that the US military had already used “about half a dozen” of such munitions. In particular, against targets in Libya, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Somalia.

It was only in December 2024 that the first photos of the wreckage of AGM-114R9X missiles used against terrorists in Idlib appeared. They allowed us to test these models.

In early February 2025, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) offered its employees a separation program to adapt to President Trump’s requirements.

The layoff proposals are part of Trump’s broader initiative to reduce the size of the federal government.

In January 2025, a similar proposal was made to most federal agencies, including those responsible for US national security.