Al-Qaida offshoot leader killed, US says

A US-led coalition airstrike this month killed the leader of an al-Qaida offshoot in Syria that US officials accuse of plotting attacks against the United States and its allies, the Pentagon said.

Muhsin al-Fadhli was killed in a "kinetic strike" on July 8 while traveling in a vehicle near the northwestern Syrian town of Sarmada, said Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.

He did not confirm whether a drone or a manned aircraft had killed Fadhli, 34.