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Syrian rebel chief killed in Aleppo airstrike

September 9, 2016

The chief military commander of the largest rebel alliance in Syria has been killed in an airstrike. Formerly the Al-Nusra Front, Fateh al-Sham Front announced "the martyrdom" of Abu Omar Sarakeb in Aleppo province.

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Syrien Al-Nusra-Front Twitter-Bild Kämpfer in Idlib
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Nusra Front on Twitter

Two rebel sources said on Thursday that Saraqeb had been killed at a location in the countryside near the city of besieged city of Aleppo. An Islamist source told the news agency Reuters the militants had been in a secret hideout in the village of Kafr Naha.

The group has been playing a key role in battles against Syrian army troops and Iranian backed Shi'ite militias.

The nationality of the jets that hit the location was not immediately known. The struggle for Aleppo has come to symbolize the lack of concerted international coordination between Western powers, Russia and Turkey in Syria.

Unconfirmed reports note that several other senior figures were either injured or killed.

Al Qaeda's Syrian branch, the Nusra Front, said last year it was ending its relationship with the global jihadist network founded by Osama bin Laden. It said it wanted to remove any pretext for attacks on Syrian civilians, a move that was dismissed by Washington.

jbh/kl (AFP, Reuters)