British special forces mounted a secret ‘kill’ operation against Islamic State’s top bomb-maker in Syria ahead of David Lammy‘s visit, security sources have said.
Abu Hasan al-Jazrawi, who was the mastermind behind ‘Mad Max’ suicide truck attacks on Western forces in the region, was killed on his motorbike after a Hellfire missile was unleashed from a remote-controlled Reaper drone.
The ‘kill’ was ordered on June 10 – three weeks later, the Foreign Secretary became the first British minister in 14 years to visit the country, where he pledged a £94.5 million package in support of Syria’s new government under president Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Al-Jazrawi was not linked to any direct threat to Mr Lammy but he was thought to be behind a failed attack on Damascus’s Shia Sayyida Zaynab shrine in March – and plotting fresh attacks.
An intelligence source said: ‘The country is a safer place with him gone. An attack on the FS [Foreign Secretary] would be an attack on all of us’.
Last night, a No 10 source played down claims the strike had been specifically authorised by the Prime Minister, saying that under Operation Shader – the name given to the UK’s participation in the battle against Islamic State – decisions over such ‘kills’ were delegated to the commanders.
Al Jazrawi was tracked by British and American special forces to a bunker near Aleppo in western Syria.
Thought to have been related to Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, the leader of Islamic State in Syria, he adopted various aliases as he plotted his attacks.
British special forces mounted a secret ‘kill’ operation against Islamic State’s top bomb-maker in Syria ahead of David Lammy ‘s visit. Pictured: File photo of a hellfire missile being launched from a US Air Force Reaper
Syria’s interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa welcoming with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy in the Syrian capital Damascus on July 5
He created the ‘Mad Max’ – a reference to the Hollywood action films – suicide trucks packed with explosives and covered in steel plates which were used against Iraqi and US forces during the battle for Mosul in 2017.
He is also thought to have been behind the bombing of the Christian St Elias Church in Damascus in June which killed 25 worshippers.
A military source said: ‘There is no indication the terrorists knew the Foreign Secretary was visiting, although it had been arranged weeks in advance and could have been leaked.
‘This was a strategic initiative to protect our allies in the region and disrupt any possible attack during the minister’s visit.’
During his trip Mr Lammy said: ‘There is renewed hope for the Syrian people, It is in our interests to support the new government to deliver their commitment to build a stable, more secure and prosperous future for all Syrians.’
The first RAF Reaper MQ-9 took to the skies in Helmand, Afghanistan, in 2008. They were initially operated from the US Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, before control was switched to the UK’s 13 Squadron who are based at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire.
A Reaper drone, which is laser-guided with a range of 12,000 yards, can carry eight Hellfire missiles.