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Rebel Islamist dies in airstrike in Idlib
Idlib – Air Forces of the US-led coalition struck Syria’s northwestern Idlib Governorate on Wednesday, targeting leaders of the al-Qaeda splinter group of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham.A coalition airstrike hit a Fateh al-Sham convoy in Idlib, targeting one of the group’s prominent leaders. Abu Ibrahim al-Tunsi, a Tunisian jihadist and leading member of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, was killed along with four other militants in the airstrike, local sources told ARA News. “The air raid hit al-Tunsi’s convoy in the Aqrabat district in Idlib,” a local media activist said. “The jihadi leader and four of his guards were killed in the operation.” This is not the first time for the US-led coalition to target leading members of the jihadist group. On January 1, a coalition airstrike led to the death of Abu Omar al-Turkistani, a military commander in Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. “The US-led coalition hit al-Turkistani’s convoy in the vicinity of Sarmada town in Idlib Governorate, near the Turkish border,” local media activist Saeed al-Hamwi told ARA News at the time. On January 12, another airstrike by the US-led coalition killed Abu Ali al-Tunsi, a security official within the Fateh al-Sham group. Other prominent members of the group that have been killed by similar strikes last year included Abu Afghan al-Masri, an Egyptian, Abu Faraj al-Masri, also an Egyptian, and Abu Omar Saraqeb, a Syrian jihadist. Jahbat Fateh al-Sham was previously known as Jabhat al-Nusra or al-Nusra Front. In July 2016, the extremist group announced that it had split from al-Qaeda and was rebranding. However, the US State Department said that group’s militants remained a fair target for US warplanes in Syria despite Nusra’s decision to cut ties with al-Qaeda and change its name to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham. On November 12, the United States amended the designation of Jabhat al-Nusra as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, listing Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (JFS) as a terrorist alias. Security analysts told ARA News that the United States has expanded its anti-JFS campaign ever since. Posted by: badanov 2017-01-19 |
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