Maher al-Agal
Maher al-Agal was a top ISIS commander in Syria who helped expand the group’s networks outside Iraq and Syria, according to CENTCOM. He also commanded Jaysh al-Sharqiyyah. Not much is known about his life beyond his military work, but he was part of ISIS in Raqqa when the group controlled the city.
Around 2020, he lived in Afrin in northwestern Syria, where he became a commander of the Turkish-backed Jaysh Al-Sharqiyyah.
On July 12, 2022, in Ghaltan village near Jindires in northwest Syria, close to the Turkish border, al-Agal was killed by a U.S. drone strike while riding his motorcycle. An unidentified ISIS official who was a close affiliate was also killed or seriously injured.
The attack was carefully planned to avoid civilian casualties. The Pentagon cited the strike as an example of taking out threat leaders without large numbers of troops.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:11 (CET).