Senior al-Qaida-linked commander killed in Syria

A senior commander of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front was killed in a bomb explosion in Syria's southern province of Daraa, state news agency SANA reported on Saturday.

The Jordanian, Abu Jalibib al-Ordoni, the general security chief of Nusra Front and the emir of the group in Damascus and Daraa, was killed on Friday when a roadside bomb tore through his car between the towns of Saida and Kahil in the countryside of Daraa, said SANA.

Other reports said al-Ordoni is the second high ranking commander of Nusra.

Meanwhile, SANA said the Nusra group has suffered great losses over the past few days, where the Syrian army dealt heavy blows on their militants, particularly in battles in the northern countryside of Daraa.

The Nusra and likeminded groups recently unleashed a battle called "The Battle of Liberating Jidiyeh" in the town of Jidiyeh in northern Daraa. However, the group was quick to bring the battle to a halt after suffering losses, according to pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV.

SANA said 17 militants of the fighters were recently killed in northern Daraa.

The official news agency said several terrorist groups linked to the Nusra Front and Israel are positioned in towns close to Jidiyeh, which it said has a strategic importance due to its location on the international road connecting the countryside of the southern province of Quneitera, bordering the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, with Daraa and the southern countryside of Damascus.

The Syrian army has foiled several infiltration attempts into Jidiyeh, SANA said.

Separately on Saturday, SANA said the Syrian army killed as many as 70 militants in the northern province of Aleppo, where the government forces backed by the Lebanese Hezbollah group, Iranian fighters and Russia air cover have been making progress against an array of jihadi groups there. Endit