US-led coalition says it destroyed IS site in Syrian mosque

AFP  |  Washington 

US-led coalition forces destroyed an Islamic State group command center inside a mosque in the Syrian border town of on Saturday, the said.

The statement comes as Kurdish-led forces mop up the final remnants of IS jihadists in Hajin, the largest settlement in what is the last pocket of territory controlled by the jihadists.

More than 16 "heavily armed" IS fighters were at the "command and control node" at the mosque when it was destroyed by a "precision strike," a statement from the read.

The jihadists, who were all killed in the strike, were using the mosque to "command attacks against Coalition partners," it said.

The IS group "continues to use protected structures to launch attacks against our Coalition partners with complete disregard for the infrastructure and innocent human lives," the statement added.

Fighters with the Syrian Democratic Forces secured after weeks of heavy fighting on Friday, the Britain-based for Human Rights said.

The town is located in eastern about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the border with

The area is sometimes referred to as the "pocket," the last rump of a once-sprawling "caliphate" the group proclaimed in 2014 over swathes of and

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Sun, December 16 2018. 13:45 IST