Pentagon confirms death of leading militant bombmaker in Syria

The Pentagon on Tuesday confirmed that a French-born explosive expert with links to al-Qaida was killed in a U.S.-led coalition airstrike in Syria in July.

David Drugeon, an explosive expert from a network of veteran al-Qaida operatives, also known as the Khorasan Group, was killed in an air strike near the Syrian city of Aleppo on July 5, said a Pentagon statement.

Accusing Drugeon of training other militants in Syria and seeking to plan attacks against Western targets, the statement said the death would "degrade and disrupt ongoing external operations of al-Qaeda against the United States, its allies, and partners."

Earlier reports said Drugeon and other al-Qaida explosive experts had been experimenting with non-metallic bombs harder to be detected.

General Lloyd Austin, the head of the U.S. military's Central Command, had called Drugeon one of Khorasan's "leadership elements and one of the most dangerous elements in that organization." Enditem