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.
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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.
READ MORE: Milton Ont. woman identified as Canadian killed in Turkey nightclub attack
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.
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