US Airstrike Kills 100-Plus al-Qaida In Syria

US warplanes bombed an al-Qaida training camp in Syria, killing more than 100 militants, marking the second major US counterterrorism strike in the final hours of Barack Obama's presidency, the Pentagon has said.

A Pentagon spokesman said the camp in Idlib province had been active since at least 2013. The Syria strike was carried out by one B-52 bomber and an undisclosed number of US aerial drones. This attack came less than 24 hours after a combination of B-2 stealth bombers and drones struck two military camps in a remote part of Libya, killing 80 to 90 Islamic State militants.

The militants killed in the Syria attack were described by one defense official as "core" al-Qaida members, among a number who had moved to Syria early last year to establish a foothold. The official distinguished these militants from members of the group formerly known as the Nusra Front, which is an al-Qaida affiliate in Syria.

The attack capped a string of successful strikes against al-Qaida this month. The strikes have killed more than 150 members of the group since Jan 1. They include Mohammad Habib Boussadoun al-Tunisi, an external operations leader, killed last Tuesday.