U.S. Army soldiers carrying the bodies of fallen U.S. soldiers in Syria. [AFP=Yonhap News]

The U.S. military announced on the 17th (local time) that it had killed the leader of an Al-Qaeda-affiliated group in connection with the murder of three Americans in Syria last December.

According to U.S. CNN, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced via a statement on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that it had eliminated Al-Qaeda leader Bilal Hassan Aljasim through an airstrike.

This airstrike was carried out in retaliation for the incident on December 13 last year in Palmyra, central Syria, where two U.S. soldiers and one American interpreter were killed in a surprise attack by the Islamic extremist group the Islamic State (ISIS, commonly known as IS).

CENTCOM explained that Al Jasim, as an "experienced terrorist leader," had direct ties to the gunmen who murdered the Americans.

Since the incident, the United States has continued large-scale airstrikes targeting IS fighters and infrastructure within Syria. U.S. troops are stationed in Syria to combat IS.

CENTCOM stated that over 100 IS bases have been struck to date.

The Syrian government, led by interim President Ahmed al-Shar'a, is also cooperating with the U.S.'s operation to eliminate IS.