US air strike said to kill 100-plus al Qaeda militants in Syria

WASHINGTON — U.S. warplanes bombed an al Qaeda training camp in Syria, killing more than 100 militants, marking the second major U.S. counterterrorism strike in the final hours of Barack Obama’s presidency, a defense official said Friday.

The official, who was not authorized to publicly announce the operation and so spoke on condition of anonymity, said it happened at about noon Washington time on Thursday, less than 24 hours after a combination of B-2 stealth bombers and drones struck two military camps in a remote part of Libya, killing 80 to 90 Islamic State militants.

The al Qaeda training camp struck on Thursday is situated in Idlib province west of Aleppo, not far from the Turkish border, the official said, adding that the Pentagon believes no civilians were killed in the attack.