John Rigsby, Central Command spokesman:

Last night, a U.S. airstrike was carried out in northwestern Syria against a senior Al-Qaeda leader named Abdul Hamid al-Matar.

We have no indications of civilian casualties as a result of the attack, which was carried out using the UAV MQ-9.

Al-Qaeda continues to pose a threat to the United States and its allies.

The al-Matar assassination will disrupt the terrorist organization's ability to continue to plan and carry out global attacks that threaten U.S. citizens.

The United States will continue to harm al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations that intend to harm the United States.