SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Syria missile attack kills at least 40 jihadist leaders: monitor
Beirut, Aug 31 (AFP) Aug 31, 2019
At least 40 jihadist leaders were killed Saturday in Syria after a missile attack targeted their meeting in the northwestern province of Idlib, a war monitor said.

"A missile attack targeted a meeting held by the leaders of Hurras al-Deen, Ansar al-Tawhid and other allied groups inside a training camp" near Idlib city, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The attack killed "at least 40" jihadist leaders, the Britain-based monitor said.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack, or if the missiles were launched from war planes or positions on the ground, the Observatory said.

An AFP correspondent saw clouds of black smoke rising over the area after blasts rocked the jihadist stronghold.

Ambulances rushed to the site of the attack, which was closed off to journalists, he said.

The Al-Qaeda-linked Hurras al-Deen and their allies Ansar al-Tawhid both operate in the Idlib region, where bombardment by Damascus and Moscow came to a halt Saturday morning after the government agreed to a Russian-backed ceasefire following four months of deadly bombardment.

Both groups are members of a joint jihadist operation room that also includes Al-Qaeda's former Syria affiliate, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

Hurras al-Deen was established in February 2018 and has some 1,800 fighters, including non-Syrians, according to the Observatory.

On July 1 the United States claimed it had carried out a strike on Hurras al-Deen in northwestern Syria, in its first such operation there in two years.

"US forces conducted a strike against Al-Qaida in Syria (AQ-S) leadership at a training facility," US Central Command said in a statement at the time.

The Observatory had reported eight members of the Al-Qaeda-linked group, including six commanders, were killed in a June 30 attack.

The United States had previously carried out several strikes in northwestern Syria, but they appeared to have petered out since 2017.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Interference to astronomy the unintended consequence of faster internet
Russian rocket puts Iran satellite into space: Iran media
Viasat unveils IoT Nano service for global low-power connectivity

24/7 Energy News Coverage
NASA's X-59 moves under its own power
Sri Lanka orders Singapore shipowner to pay US$1 bn over marine disaster
More than 80% of Tuvalu seeks Australian climate visa

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
New MachLab rocket test site launches UK into next phase of space engineering
Ukraine's anti-graft body says new bill restores independence
Iran meets European powers amid threats of UN sanctions snapback

24/7 News Coverage
Australia's mammal megafauna face long-term decline from extinctions and invasive species
Alien life clues may emerge from deep sea volcanic vents on Earth
Seismic signatures reveal fragmentation patterns of fireball meteoroids



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.