Blast kills top leaders of Qaeda branch in Syria
The U.S.-led coalition denies having conducted airstrikes in Idlib in the past 24 hours
Four leaders of al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, al-Nusra Front, including its general military commander Abu Humam al-Shami, have been killed in an explosion in the northwest province of Idlib on Thursday, Al Arabiya News Channel reported.
Al-Shami is one of the most senior Nusra Front figures to be killed since it formed in 2012 and has fought in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, Reuters news agency reported, quoting sources said.
Reports said the explosion was caused by a coalition airstrike that hit a high-level Nusra Front meeting in Idlib, but the coalition has denied having conducted any airstrikes in the province in the past 24 hours.
The Nusra Front has fought Western-backed rebels this year, seizing their territory and forcing them to disarm so as to
consolidate its power in northern Syria.
Hazzm, one of the last remnants of non-jihadist opposition to President Bashar al-Assad in northern Syria, dissolved itself
last week after weeks of fighting with the Nusra Front.
After Thursday's attack, the Nusra Front told its members not to provide information to the media, the Reuters sources said.
The weakness of the mainstream Syrian opposition and the growing power of the Nusra Front and Islamic State has
complicated diplomatic efforts to end the Syrian conflict that has killed around 200,000 people.
[With Reuters]
Also Read
-
Will Syria’s Nusra Front split from al-Qaeda?
The exercise could transform Nusra from a weakened militia group into a force capable of taking on ISIS Features -
Al-Qaeda group launches assault on Western-backed Syria rebels
The fighting comes nearly three months after the al-Nusra Front expelled another group of Western-backed opposition fighters from Idlib Middle East -
Syria rebels overtake strategic base in south
Syrian insurgents including Nusra Front fighters seized an important government army base in the southwestern Deraa province Middle East -
Seven killed in north Lebanon suicide attack
Syria's Al-Qaeda wing, the Nusra Front, claims responsibility for the deadly attack Middle East -
Syria’s al-Qaeda repelled from Shiite villages
Pro-government activists published photos that they said showed the bodies of Nusra Front fighters in a ditch near the villages Middle East -
Remembering 2014’s captives still held by extremists
Thousands of people continue to be held captive by ISIS, al-Nusra Front, and Nigeria-based Boko Haram Features -
Four children dead in Syria school bus strike
Idlib is largely in the hands of Syria’s al-Qaeda franchise, al-Nusra Front Middle East -
Lebanon waits for Turkish response in bid to free hostages
ISIS and al-Nusra Front briefly overran Arsal in early August, taking with them over 30 Lebanese servicemen Middle East -
Around 180 Syrian soldiers, militants killed in battle for base
Nusra Front on Monday took the base next to the country's main north-south highway linking Aleppo with Damascus Middle East -
Activists: Qaeda seizes scores of Syrian army tanks
Nusra Front fighters capture the Wadi al-Deif and Hamidiyeh military posts in the northwestern province of Idlib Middle East
