The war against the Islamic State didn't end when it dropped off the front pages - it just moved farther from the cameras. The US military announced that in a precision airstrike in northwestern Syria it killed Ali Hussein al-Uleji, described as a senior leader of the Islamic State. The operation was carried out by US Central Command (CENTCOM).

According to the official statement, the strike is part of „ongoing US efforts" to disable and eliminate terrorists who seek to attack Americans abroad or at home. Admiral Brad Cooper, the CENTCOM commander, said that they and their partners remain committed to „eliminating the remnants of the Islamic State to ensure its lasting defeat".

The Pentagon described the strike as a „serious blow to the operational capabilities of the remaining cells" of the organization, stressing that the pressure on radical groups in Syria and Iraq will not let up. The operation, they say, was conducted in close cooperation with „regional partners" as part of a broader counterterrorism campaign.

It sounds familiar - for over a decade, every „senior leader" killed is presented as a turning point, and the organization always somehow finds a new man to take his place. The question rarely asked out loud is simple: if every killing is a „serious blow", why has the fight dragged on for years with no end? Maybe because it's easier to drop a bomb than to drain the swamp in which groups like these keep sprouting anew.