US Strikes ISIS Leadership
US Airstrike in Syria Kills Senior ISIS Leader al-Ulaywi Amid Ongoing Counter-Terror Efforts
Key Points
ISIS declared a new phase of operations in Syria targeting the government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa, with reporting noting that al-Sharaa's government joined the US-led coalition fighting ISIS last year.
The airstrike that killed Ali Husayn al-Ulaywi occurred on June 19, 2026, according to CENTCOM postings and regional reporting.
Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander, is quoted as saying: 'CENTCOM and our partners remain committed to rooting out remaining remnants of ISIS to ensure its enduring defeat' and 'We will continue to defend the US homeland, our service members, and allies and partners across the region.'
Contextual note: ISIS once controlled around a quarter or more of Syria at the peak of its power during the civil war, illustrating the group's enduring presence and the challenge of ensuring lasting defeat.
A U.S. airstrike in northwestern Syria on June 19, 2026, killed Ali Husayn al-Ulaywi, a senior ISIS leader involved in rebuilding the group's command structure in the region. Reuters confirmed the strike, carried out at approximately 2:30 a.m. local time using a precision drone, eliminated a figure analysts describe as central to ISIS's resurgence strategy in post-civil war Syria.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the killing on June 22 via X and its press bureau. The strike was the 14th major U.S. military action in Syria in 2026 alone — a sign of how actively ISIS is being hunted. Between 5,000 and 7,000 ISIS fighters are still believed to be active across the Levant, according to UN estimates.
Who Was al-Ulaywi and Why He Mattered
Al-Ulaywi was not a frontline fighter. He was a planner and logistics operator. Reuters reported he was instrumental in re-establishing ISIS command-and-control networks in northwestern Syria after the group's territorial defeat at Baghouz in 2019. U.S. intelligence, aided by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), tracked him to a compound in the rural Idlib-Aleppo border region on June 17.
Analyst Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute described al-Ulaywi as part of a critical "bridging" generation of ISIS leaders — survivors of the 2019 collapse who carry the institutional knowledge to rebuild. Killing him, Lister said, "disrupts the link between ISIS central and the disparate cells operating in the Aleppo countryside."
ISIS Declared a New War Just Days Before the Strike
The strike did not happen in a vacuum. Between June 12 and 14, ISIS sleeper cells launched a major attack near Manbij in the Aleppo region, using IEDs and small arms against security forces loyal to Syria's new government. ISIS then claimed responsibility in its Al-Naba newsletter, declaring a "new phase" of war against what it called the "apostate coalition government."
That government belongs to President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who joined the U.S.-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in late 2025 — a historic shift for a country once at the center of the group's so-called caliphate. At its 2014-2015 peak, ISIS controlled roughly 90,000 square kilometers across Iraq and Syria, or about a quarter of Syrian territory. The instability ISIS is now stoking in the Aleppo-Manbij corridor is already costing Syria an estimated $40 million per month in lost trade, according to World Bank data.
CENTCOM Frames Strike as Defense of the U.S. Homeland
CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper was direct about the mission's purpose. "CENTCOM and our partners remain committed to rooting out remaining remnants of ISIS to ensure its enduring defeat," he said. "We will continue to defend the U.S. homeland, our service members, and allies and partners across the region." CENTCOM reported zero civilian casualties in the operation.
The strike was conducted under the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) — the legal authority the U.S. has used to justify counter-terrorism operations for over two decades. Syria's formal membership in the coalition also gave the U.S. a diplomatic green light. On June 23, President al-Sharaa's cabinet welcomed the strike, calling it proof that Syria is now "a key player in global security" rather than a pariah state.
What Comes Next: A Short Pause, Then a New ISIS Leader
Analysts expect a "decapitation lag" of three to six months before ISIS names a successor to al-Ulaywi. In the short term, the group's Manbij-region operations are expected to slow. But critics of the strategy argue the U.S. is "mowing the grass" — killing leaders without addressing the poverty and instability in the Euphrates Valley that lets ISIS keep recruiting new ones.
Meanwhile, ISIS propaganda channels are already trying to spin the strike. Pro-ISIS accounts on Telegram framed it as proof that al-Sharaa serves Western interests — a message aimed at disgruntled former rebels who feel left behind by Syria's new government. The Pentagon, for its part, says the joint operation strengthens its case for keeping a small but specialized U.S. military footprint in Syria to provide intelligence and air support.
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