Air strike kills top jihadist rebel commander in Syria

Beirut, Sep 9 (AFP) An air strike near Syria’sbattleground second city Aleppo killed the military leader ofthe largest rebel alliance and at least one other commander,jihadist sources and a monitor said. The strike on a meeting of commanders of the Army ofConquest alliance came hot on the heels of a major defeat forthe rebels, which saw them under renewed siege inside Aleppoafter an army advance this week. Former Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front, renamed Fatehal-Sham Front when it broke ties in July, announced on Twitter"the martyrdom" of commander Abu Omar Saraqeb in an airstrike. The jihadist Fateh al-Sham is a leading member of the Armyof Conquest which groups its fighters with Islamist factionslike Ahrar al-Sham in the most prominent anti-regime alliance. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said unidentifiedaircraft hit the Army of Conquest meeting last night, killingSaraqeb and another rebel commander named as Abu Muslimal-Shami. Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said it was notimmediately clear whether the strike was carried out by theUS-led coalition, the Syrian regime or its Russian ally – allof whom are conducting bombing raids in northern Syria. According to the Observatory, Abu Omar Saraqeb was aleading member of Al-Qaeda in Iraq in its fight against theUS-led occupation after 2003 before becoming a key commanderof Al-Nusra Front and then Fateh al-Sham in Syria. He reportedly also founded Al-Nusra Front’s Lebanon branchwhich has claimed responsibility for several bombings inSyria’s western neighbour. He operates under different noms de guerre, making itdifficult to know his nationality. He led a successful offensive by the Army of Conquest inspring last year which saw it seize control of nearly all ofthe northwestern province of Idlib. But the alliance has been less successful in and aroundAleppo, where it was dealt a major blow by regime forces thisweek. In early August, Saraqeb led an offensive againstpro-government fighters besieging the rebel-held east of thedivided city and opened up a new supply route from the souththat broke the siege. But this week regime loyalists recaptured nearly all ofthe territory taken last month and reimposed the blockade. Jihadism expert Charles Lister said Saraqeb had helpedfound the the Army of Conquest last year and once served asthe "emir" of Idlib province. Amid Syria’s fractious rebel movement, "he’s seen widelyas an Islamist unifier," Lister wrote.(AFP)ABH