Leader of Syrian rebel group killed in Russian airstrike in Aleppo — report

Islamist rebels celebrate in a street in Maaret al-Numan in Syria's northwestern Idlib province on November 30, 2024. (Abdulaziz Ketaz/AFP)
Islamist rebels celebrate in a street in Maaret al-Numan in Syria's northwestern Idlib province on November 30, 2024. (Abdulaziz Ketaz/AFP)

The leader of the Islamist group that swept into the Syrian city of Aleppo yesterday has been killed in a Russian airstrike, according to unconfirmed Arab media reports.

Earlier today, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air force had carried out strikes on Syrian rebels in support of the country’s army, Russian news agencies reported.

Ahmed Hussein al-Shar’a, known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Julani (or Golani, indicating he was born in the Golan Heights), is wanted by the United States as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, with a $10 million bounty on his head.

His group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, once known as the Nusra Front, is designated a terrorist group by the US, Russia, Turkey and other states. Syrian President Bashar Assad is a close Moscow ally.

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