Breaking news is the death of a senior commander of al-Qaeda. The death of Sheikh Abu Sulaiman al-Masri was confirmed this morning, supported by images of his body containing a head wound. It has been reported that the senior commander – an important figure for al-Qaeda and the al-Nusra front, that he had been killed in Syria during a gun battle with Syrian Arab Army forces in Aleppo.
Al Masri was believed to be an Egyptian national, who had previously been sentenced to death in his homeland for fighting with Hamas in Gaza. He was killed during a battle in Aleppo, the once economic hub of pre-war Syria, against Kurdish forces.
The senior commander’s death is considered to have dealt a massive blow to the terror group’s operations, along with the recent airstrikes from Russian forces targeting strongholds to battle IS. However, since the Russian air campaign, multiple offensive attacks have been launched by jihadists’, isolating the highway from government-held territory.
A patchwork of armed groups have surrounded areas in nearby countryside, but it has been reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that 28 IS fighters and 21 troops have been killed in recent battles. Other reports or successful Russian air strikes have allowed the army to recapture territory south of the city, and further hopes are held that the IS siege will be broken in the east in coming weeks.
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