The Pentagon announced on Tuesday that a U.S.-led coalition drone strike in Raqqa, Syria killed three ISIS fighters, two that helped plan the Paris terrorist attacks in November 2015 and a third who was involved in a suicide terrorist attack plot targeting Europe that was thwarted last year. The drone strike reportedly occurred on December 4th.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter first made the announcement on Tuesday to U.S airmen at a military base in Italy.
Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook told reporters that two of the ISIS fighters killed in the drone strike were Paris attack facilitators Salah Gourmat and Sammy Djedou. The third ISIS fighter was identified as Walid Hamman.
“The three were working together to plot and facilitate attacks against Western targets at the time of the strike,” Cook said.
The three ISIS fighters were affiliated with a terror network led by Boubaker Al-Hakim, who just last month, was also killed in a U.S.-led coalition airstrike. The two ISIS fighters who facilitated the Paris terrorist attacks last year were associated with ISIS external operations leader Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, who was killed earlier this year.
The Paris terrorist attacks last year killed 130 people and injured 368. Following the attacks, a three month state of emergency was declared across the country.
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