U.S. Commandos Use Secretive Missiles to Kill Qaeda Leaders in Syria
- September 28th, 2020
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US special operations forces used a special type of missile to kill a high ranking terrorist of an Al-Qaeda affiliated group. The missile is used to avoid civilian casualties, as its explosive warhead is replaced by long blades, designed to cut or crush the victim’s vehicle. The strike happened in northwestern Syria, which is important because it crosses the unofficial dividing line between Russian and U.S forces the the Euphrates River acts as. The U.S. has crossed this dividing line on prior occasions to conduct its shadow war with Qaeda groups, but usually, the Russians ignore it.
This special form of hellfire missile, called the ninja hellfire missile, was developed under President Obama as a response to high civilian casualties from middle eastern wars as a result of conventional missile strikes. This form of missile seems to solve this problem, but it makes it more difficult to take out groups of terrorists at the same time. It is also important to take note of the heightening tensions between the U.S. and Russia in Syria given recent events. The U.S. must be careful to not upset Russia too much while conducting this shadow war, but in my opinion should continue it given the size of the threat that a resurgence of Al Qaeda would provide.
Connor Quin