Unidentified drone targets key rebel leader in Syria's Idlib
Xinhua, October 3, 2016 Adjust font size:
An unidentified drone targeted a senior leader in the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (JFS) group, a monitor group as well as other rebels reported on Monday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a commander in the JFS was killed when an unknown drone targeted him in the city of Jisr al-Shughour in the northwestern province of Idlib, near the Turkish border.
Other opposition sites identified the slain commander as Abu al-Faraj al-Masri, who is an Egyptian al-Qaida operative.
Al-Masri, which in Arabic means the Egyptian, is the nom de guerre of Ahmad Salama Mabruk, a 60-year-old JFS leader, previously called the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, who later changed its name from Nusra Front to JFS after officially severing its ties with al-Qaida.
Al-Masri was among 14 individuals subjected to extraordinary rendition by the United States' Central Intelligence Agency before the U.S. declared a "War on Terror" in 2001.
The JFS enjoys a considerable sway in Idlib, as almost the entire province is under the control of the JFS and the al-Fateh Army, or the Army of Conquest. Endit