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| Syrian rebel leaders die in air strike | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The head and several leaders of one of Syria's most powerful rebel groups, Jaysh al-Islam, have been killed in an air strike east of Damascus. | |
| Founder Zahroun Alloush, 44, was among those killed when rockets hit a meeting place, rebels and the Syrian army said. | |
| The Saudi-backed Islamist group is one of the biggest factions and is dominant in the Eastern Ghouta countryside. | |
| It recently joined an opposition summit in Riyadh which produced a framework for peace talks with the government. | It recently joined an opposition summit in Riyadh which produced a framework for peace talks with the government. |
| Ten rockets struck as Jaysh al-Islam commanders met, Saudi-funded al-Arabiya TV reported. The group's deputy leader was also killed, al-Arabiya said. | |
| Analysis: Lina Sinjab, BBC News, Beirut | |
| The killing of Zahran Alloush comes days after the UN passed a resolution endorsing a path to peace in Syria. | |
| It sends a strong message as to whom the Russians and the Syrian government are willing to sit at the negotiating table with, when and if peace talks take place. | |
| Russia, President Assad's strong ally, has presented a list of rebel groups it identifies as terrorists. Jaysh al-Islam was one of them. | |
| Jaysh al-Islam controls most of the Eastern Ghouta agricultural belt on the edge of Damascus. | |
| It succeeded in forcing so-called Islamic State out of the area, which has been under heavy bombardment from the regime since early on in the war. | |
| Reuters news agency quoted rebel sources as saying the strikes were carried out by Russian planes, though this has not been confirmed. | Reuters news agency quoted rebel sources as saying the strikes were carried out by Russian planes, though this has not been confirmed. |
| Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has been waging an air campaign in Syria since the end of September. | Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has been waging an air campaign in Syria since the end of September. |
| Moscow insists it has been targeting so-called Islamic State, but rebels and Western officials say the Russian strikes have mainly been hitting other groups. | Moscow insists it has been targeting so-called Islamic State, but rebels and Western officials say the Russian strikes have mainly been hitting other groups. |
| Jaysh al-Islam, whose fighters number tens of thousands, took part in the conference in the Saudi capital which agreed a common approach among disparate rebel groups for UN-backed peace talks planned for January. | |
| Syria and Russia dismissed the meeting, saying the groups did not properly represent the opposition and that those that did attend were unacceptable. |