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Syria conflict: Militant leader 'killed in air strike' | Syria conflict: Militant leader 'killed in air strike' |
(about 13 hours later) | |
A senior jihadist militant has reportedly been killed in a US-led coalition air strike in northern Syria. | |
Abu al-Faraj al-Masri died in Idlib province, according to a statement from Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, which was known as al-Nusra Front until it formally broke off ties with al-Qaeda in July. | |
Masri, an Egyptian cleric who was close to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, served on the group's Shura Council. | |
The Pentagon confirmed it had "targeted a prominent al-Qaeda member in Syria". | The Pentagon confirmed it had "targeted a prominent al-Qaeda member in Syria". |
"We are assessing the results of the operation at this time," Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said. | "We are assessing the results of the operation at this time," Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said. |
He provided no further details. | He provided no further details. |
Who are Jabhat Fateh al-Sham? | Who are Jabhat Fateh al-Sham? |
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, reported on Monday that Masri was killed when the vehicle he was travelling in was hit near the border with Turkey. | |
Jabhat Fateh al-Sham is one of the most powerful armed groups seeking to overthrow the government of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. | |
In July, its leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani claimed he was ending its affiliation with al-Qaeda and forming a new body with "no ties with any foreign party". | |
But analysts dismissed it as a public relations move, and the US immediately said it would continue to target the group, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN. | |
Masri, whose real name is Ahmed Salama Mabrouk, appeared alongside Jolani in the video announcing the name change. | |
Russia, which backs Syria's president, has accused the US of sparing Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and of failing to persuade the mainstream rebels it supports to distance themselves from the jihadist group. | |
Last month, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham's top military commander was killed in an air strike in the northern province of Aleppo. |