The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Friday it eliminated a high-ranking member of the Islamic State (IS) Abu Yusif, also known as Mahmud, in an airstrike on Syria's province of Deir ez Zor.

"This airstrike is part of CENTCOM's ongoing commitment, along with partners in the region, to disrupt and degrade efforts by terrorists to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against civilians and military personnel from the US, our allies, and our partners throughout the region and beyond," the agency tweeted, adding the targeted zone was previously controlled by the former regime of Bashar al-Assad and Russia.

"ISIS has the intent to break out of detention the over 8,000 ISIS operatives currently being held in facilities in Syria. We will aggressively target these leaders and operatives, including those trying to conduct operations external to Syria," CENTCOM commander Michael Kurilla stated.