US drones 'harassed' by Russian jets kill top Islamic State leader in airstrike: Officials
The U.S. military said Saturday that U.S. drones "harassed" by Russian jets on Friday later carried out airstrike on a top ISIS leader Three MQ-9 Reaper drones the U.S. military said had been "harassed" by Russian fighter jets over Syria on Friday were the same drones that later carried out an airstrike that killed a top Islamic State group leader, U.S. Central Command announced Sunday. IS leader Usama-al-Muhajir was killed on Friday, CENTCOM said. The news capped three straight days of tense encounters where the U.S. had criticized Russian pilots for "unsafe and unprofessional" behavior with its drones flying over Syria. "The strike on Friday was conducted by the same MQ-9s that had, earlier in the day, been harassed by Russian aircraft in an encounter that had lasted almost two hours," Sunday's CENTCOM statement added. MORE: Russian jets 'harass' US drones for 2nd straight day, Pentagon says Russian SU-35 fighter aircraft close ...