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Death toll of airstrikes on al-Qaida affiliates in northern Syria rises to 40

Xinhua, January 4, 2017 Adjust font size:

The death toll of the airstrikes that targeted al-Qaida affiliates in northern Syria on Tuesday rose to 40, according to pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV.

The airstrikes, believed to have been carried out by the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition, targeted a headquarter of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham rebels, formerly known as al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, in the town of Sarmada in the northern province of Idlib near the Turkish borders, said the report.

It added that all those killed were rebels and commanders of the same group.

The airstrike wasn't the first this month, as similar offensive killed eight commanders of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham near Sarmada on Sunday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor group.

Last July, the leaders of al-Qaida's Syrian affiliate Nusra Front said the rebel group had severed ties with the international terrorist organization in a bid to stop Russian and the U.S. airstrikes on opposition-held areas of the country.

Still, the group remained designated as a terrorist group by the international community and was excluded from a currently-underway nationwide ceasefire in Syria. Endit