The U.S. military killed senior al-Qaida leader Abdul Hamid al-Matar in a drone strike in Syria on Friday, a U.S. Central Command spokesman said.

"The removal of this al-Qaida senior leader will disrupt the terrorist organization's ability to further plot and carry out global attacks threatening U.S. citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians," U.S. Army Major John Rigsbee said in a written statement.

The strike comes two days after a U.S. outpost in southern Syria was attacked. Rigsbee did not say if the U.S. drone strike was carried out in retaliation.