The head of a Syrian rebel group formerly affiliated to al-Qaeda, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, has been maimed in a Russian airstrike in Syria, Moscow said on Wednesday.
Russia's defense ministry said that the former al-Nusra Front leader lost an arm and is in a "critical condition" following the strike that also killed 12 Hayat Tahrir al-Sham commanders, including Jolani's security chief.
"As a result of the strike, the leader of Jabhat al-Nusra, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, received multiple serious shrapnel wounds, lost an arm and is in a critical condition, according to several independent sources," ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.
Konashenkov said the strike was the result of a special operation to avenge an attack on Russian military police in Syria on Sept. 18.
Russian-led forces tracked down the militants using data obtained by Russian intelligence while HTS fighters gathered for a meeting.
Jolani headed Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Nusra Front, which later changed its name to Fateh al-Sham in 2016 when it cut ties with al-Qaeda.
Washington and the United Nations did not recognize the group's break from al-Qaeda and kept it on terror blacklists.
Since 2017, Fateh al-Sham has dominated HTS, which is a coalition of rebel groups in northern Syria.
The alliance controls most of the northwestern province of Idlib after expelling Islamist former allies earlier this year.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
