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US Begins Drone Campaign Targeting IS Leaders

US Begins Drone Campaign Targeting IS Leaders

The CIA and US Special Operations forces have begun a secret campaign to hunt Islamic State terror suspects in Syria, according to a report.

US defence officials have said drones flown as part of the campaign are responsible for recent strikes against senior IS figures.

Among those killed was reported to be British militant Junaid Hussain, who was responsible for recruiting sympathisers to carry out attacks in the West.

The CIA's Counterterrorism Center (CTC) has been given an increased role in identifying and pinpointing senior IS figures, The Washington Post reported.

A senior official told the newspaper: "These people are being identified and targeted through a separate effort."

The campaign is independent of air strikes carried out in Syria by the US-led coalition. The targets are identified by the CTC, but the missions are carried out by Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).

The official said that the new campaign accounts for only a tiny part of the more than 2,450 air strikes in Syria in the last year.

Hussain, 21, was killed on 24 August and had been involved in "actively recruiting IS sympathisers in the West to carry out 'lone wolf' style attacks," according to US Central Command spokesman Air Force Colonel Pat Ryder.

He added: "We have taken a significant threat off the battlefield and have made it very clear that in terms of ISIL leadership, we are going to target them where we can."

The Briton was alleged to have released the personal data of around 1,300 US military and government employees in recent weeks and tried to encourage attacks against them.

On 21 August, IS second-in-command Fadhil Ahmad al Hayali was killed in a drone strike near the Iraqi city of Mosul.

Al Hayali was the senior deputy to IS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. He was considered the group's "primary co-ordinator" for moving weapons, explosives, vehicles and people between Iraq and Syria.

The Pentagon also revealed it was planning to increase its use of drones by around 50% in the next few years as it looks to combat new security challenges.

Under the proposals, the Air Force would continue to provide 60 daily drone missions, while the Army would carry out 16 and US Special Operations Command and civilian contractors would do up to 10 each.