[Rudaw] A local leader of the Syrian wing of al-Qaeda, Jabhat al-Nusra...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ...
, was rubbed out in broad daylight in the town of Ariha on Wednesday.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor the "emir" of the northwestern Idlib province town of Ariha, a man named Iyad al-Adl, was rubbed out along with another member of the group he was driving in his car through town.
This is just the latest such instance of liquidations targeting these group's along with their allied Islamists, Ahrar al-Sham
...a Syria jihadi group made up of Islamists and salafists, not that there's that much difference, formed into a brigade. They make up the main element of the Islamic Front but they don't profess adoration of al-Qaeda and they've been fighting (mainly for survival) against the Islamic State. Their leadership was wiped out at a single blow by a suicide kaboom at a crowded basement meeting in September, 2014...
. Since last December 20 other commanders and leaders of Islamist groups have been killed in Idlib, Homs and Deraa provinces.
Many suspect it is the work of ISIS who, while they espouse a similar ideology, seek to eliminate these groups since they operate outside ISIS's command.
Idlib Province has been occupied by a coalition of Islamists, including Nusra and al-Sham, called the Jaish al-Fatah since last May.