The spokesman for the al-Nusra Front, his son and 20 other militants were killed in airstrikes on Sunday in the northeast of Syria, a monitor said.
Abu Firas al-Suri was meeting with other leading militants in a Nusra stronghold in Kafar Jales when the raids struck, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
“Abu Firas al-Suri, his son and at least 20 jihadists of al-Nusra and Jund al-Aqsa, and jihadists from Uzbekistan, were killed in strikes on positions in Idlib Province,” Rami Abdel Rahman of the observatory said.
It was not immediately clear if the raids were carried out by Syrian regime warplanes or their Russian allies.
Two other targets belonging to al-Nusra Front and its ally, Jund al-Aqsa, in the north of Idlib Province were also attacked, Abdel Rahman said, leaving many seriously wounded.
Suri, whose real name is Radwan Nammous, fought against the Soviet forces in Afghanistan where he met late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his mentor Abdullah Azzam before returning to Syria in 2011, supporters on Twitter said.
A temporary ceasefire between government forces and rebels has largely held since Feb. 27, but it does not cover al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State (IS) group.
The break has, in fact, allowed Russia and the US-led coalition that has been bombing Islamic State in Syria to concentrate their fight against the militants. On Wednesday last week, a drone strike near Islmaic State’s de facto Syrian capital, Raqa, killed Tunisian commander Abu al-Haija, according to the observatory, the latest in a series of blows to the militants in recent weeks.
Fifteen Islamic State commanders accused of revealing his position have since been executed by the militants and the fate of another 20 men accused of collaborating with the US-led coalition remains unknown.
“This is the highest number of executions of security officials by IS,” said Abdel Rahman, whose Britain-based group has a wide network of contacts across Syria.
Syrian troops on Sunday also seized the city of al-Qaryatayn, one of the last Islamic State strongholds in central Syria, according to state television.
The observatory reported violent clashes in the city during the day, but by evening the monitor said the militants had finally been driven out.
The advance came after the Syrian army dealt Islamic State a major blow on Sunday last week by retaking the ancient city of Palmyra, known as the “Pearl of the desert.”
The capture of al-Qaryatain, about 120km to the southwest, allows the army to secure its grip over the ancient city, where militants destroyed ancient temples during their 10-month rule.
Once al-Qaryatain returns to government control, “of the whole of Homs Province, IS will only hold its bastion in Sukhna” northeast of Palmyra, Abdel Rahman said.
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