A suspected U.S.-led airstrike on Tuesday killed at least 30 members of former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front including senior figures, an activist group said.
Unidentified aircraft "hit a major base of Fateh al-Sham near to the town of Sarmada" in the northwestern province of Idlib, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
On Sunday, the U.S.-led coalition's warplanes had also struck several cars in Idlib, killing at least eight people, including Fateh al-Sham fighters and a senior commander with a Chinese Islamist militant faction.
The attack occurred late Sunday on a road leading from the town of Sarmada to the Bab al-Hawa area on the border with Turkey, said the Observatory and a local commander with the Fatah al-Sham Front.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack, but the Observatory's chief Rami Abdurrahman said it is widely believed to have been carried out by the U.S.-led coalition.
The U.S. has killed some of Al-Qaeda's most senior commanders in Syria over the past two years in airstrikes. Those targeted included members of the so-called Khorasan group, which Washington describes as an internal branch of Al-Qaeda that plans attacks against Western interests.
The Observatory said eight people were killed in the airstrike, including three Islamist commanders. The dead include a senior Al-Qaeda commander known as Khattab al-Qahtani, who was from the Gulf region and fought for the group in Afghanistan.
Abu Omar al-Turkistani, a top commander with the Turkistan Islamic Party, and a Syrian Al-Qaeda commander known as Abu Muatasem al-Deiri, were also killed. The Turkistan Islamic Party mainly consists of minority Uighurs from China, many of whom have traveled to Syria to help battle President Bashar Assad's forces alongside other Islamist groups.
The Fatah al-Sham commander confirmed that several people were killed, including Qahtani and Turkistani. He said the attack was most likely carried out by drones. (With agencies)
Unidentified aircraft "hit a major base of Fateh al-Sham near to the town of Sarmada" in the northwestern province of Idlib, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
On Sunday, the U.S.-led coalition's warplanes had also struck several cars in Idlib, killing at least eight people, including Fateh al-Sham fighters and a senior commander with a Chinese Islamist militant faction.
The attack occurred late Sunday on a road leading from the town of Sarmada to the Bab al-Hawa area on the border with Turkey, said the Observatory and a local commander with the Fatah al-Sham Front.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack, but the Observatory's chief Rami Abdurrahman said it is widely believed to have been carried out by the U.S.-led coalition.
The U.S. has killed some of Al-Qaeda's most senior commanders in Syria over the past two years in airstrikes. Those targeted included members of the so-called Khorasan group, which Washington describes as an internal branch of Al-Qaeda that plans attacks against Western interests.
The Observatory said eight people were killed in the airstrike, including three Islamist commanders. The dead include a senior Al-Qaeda commander known as Khattab al-Qahtani, who was from the Gulf region and fought for the group in Afghanistan.
Abu Omar al-Turkistani, a top commander with the Turkistan Islamic Party, and a Syrian Al-Qaeda commander known as Abu Muatasem al-Deiri, were also killed. The Turkistan Islamic Party mainly consists of minority Uighurs from China, many of whom have traveled to Syria to help battle President Bashar Assad's forces alongside other Islamist groups.
The Fatah al-Sham commander confirmed that several people were killed, including Qahtani and Turkistani. He said the attack was most likely carried out by drones. (With agencies)
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