A high-ranking commander of the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front militant group has been killed during fierce clashes with Syrian army troopers and allied forces in the country’s northwestern province of Idlib, a report says.
Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said on Saturday that Abul Hassan al-Tunsi was killed on the outskirts of al-Foua and Kefraya villages on Friday as Syrian soldiers, backed by fighters from pro-government forces, closed in on Takfiri militants.
Abdel Rahman identified Tunsi as an important al-Nusra Front leader that arrived in Syria in 2012. He had served as a lieutenant of the former leader of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, in Afghanistan and Iraq.
On Saturday, Syrian troops, backed by pro-government forces, killed more than 100 al-Qaeda-linked militants during a series of violent clashes in Idlib Province.
The militants were killed after local forces repelled fresh attacks by the al-Nusra Front on al-Foua and Kefraya villages.
Sources said a number of militants from Uzbekistan and Chechnya were among those killed in the fierce exchange of gunfire.
Both villages fell under a siege by al-Nusra Front more than five months ago. Dozens of civilians have been killed and hundreds injured in the two villages during this period.
The conflict in Syria, which flared in March 2011, has reportedly claimed more than 240,000 lives up until now.
The United Nations says the militancy has displaced more than 7.2 million Syrians internally, and compelled over four million others to take refuge in neighboring countries, including Jordan and Lebanon.
Editor's note: This article has been edited from the source material
