Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said the US military carried out the strike in northwestern Syria on Sunday, resulting in several enemy fighters being killed.

“We assess that Al-Qaeda senior leader Abu Firas al-Suri was in that meeting and we are working to confirm his death,” Cook said.

He said al-Suri is a Syrian national and a “legacy” Al-Qaeda member who fought in Afghanistan in the late 1980s and 1990s.

He “worked with Osama bin Laden and other founding Al-Qaeda members to train terrorists and conduct attacks globally,” Cook said.

He declined to comment on whether the strike was carried out by drones or manned warplanes.

Al-Qaeda-linked fighters in Syria operate under the banner of the Al-Nusra Front.

A temporary ceasefire between Syrian government forces and rebels has largely held since February 27, but it does not cover Al-Nusra or the ISIS group, AFP reported.

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