Islamist rebel leader said injured in Damascus shelling

Head of Jabhat al-Nusra, defined by the US as a terror group, reported wounded in Syrian fighting

By Joshua Davidovich

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9 May 2013, 3:56 am

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Joshua Davidovich is The Times of Israel's Deputy Editor

Syrian rebels from al-Qaeda affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra, wave their brigade flag as they step on the top of a Syrian air force helicopter, at Taftanaz air base that was captured by the rebels, in Idlib province, northern Syria, Friday January 11 2013 (photo credit: AP/Edlib News Network ENN)

The head of an al-Qaeda-linked group leading the fight against Syrian president Bashar Assad was injured during regime shelling of Damascus, activists said Wednesday.

Abu Mohammed al-Jaulani, who heads the hard-line Jabhat al-Nusra, or Nusra Front, was wounded during shelling in southern Damascus, the British based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Al-Nusra has emerged in the last several months as one of the main organizations on the rebel side in Syria’s two-year civil war. The outfit is linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq and is listed as a terror group by the US.

Several others were also injured in the bombing, the Observatory said.

Syria’s state run news agency reported that several al-Nusra “terrorists,” a catch-all term used by the regime for all rebel fighters, were killed in fighting around the capital.

Damascus has attempted to paint the the two-year conflict as a fight against terror. Over 70,000 people have been killed in the fighting, and over a million more have been forced to flee their homes.