U.S. forces kill ISIS militant linked to New Year’s Eve attack on Turkish nightclub

WASHINGTON, April 21 (Reuters) – The United States disclosed on Friday a secret military ground operation to kill an Islamic State operative seen as a close associate of leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and who was linked to an attack on a Turkish nightclub that killed 39 people.

Abdurakhmon Uzbeki, who was believed to be from Uzbekistan, was killed during the ground assault near Mayadin, Syria, on April 6, said Colonel John Thomas, a spokesman for the U.S. military’s Central Command.

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Turkish authorities captured the suspected attacker in January following a two-week manhunt. Officials say he later confessed to carrying out the attack.

“It was a ground operation. I think that’s all we’re willing to say about that,” Thomas said, declining further comment. He specified that Uzbeki did not die in an airstrike.