Al Qaeda's official Syrian wing, the Nusra Front, announced on Thursday the death of its top military commander, who insurgent sources said fell victim to a blast targeting a high-level militant meeting.
General Military Commander Abu Humam al-Shami, a veteran of Islamist militant fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, was the senior-most member of the group to die in the Syria war, an insurgent source said.
Insurgent sources said a US-led coalition air strike hit the meeting in the northwestern province of Idlib, but a coalition spokesman said it had not conducted air strikes in the province during the past 24 hours.
Syrian insurgents have in the past killed member of rival militant groups by planting bombs at meetings. The blast comes at a time of flux for the Nusra Front, which is waging war on other insurgents and also looking for support from Gulf states, sources in Nusra have said.
"The Islamic Nation is bleeding because of the news of the martyrdom of Commander Abu Humam," Nusra Front said on Twitter.
The United States has carried out strikes against one of Nusra's jihadi rivals, Islamic State, in Iraq since July and in Syria since September. It has also targeted Nusra fighters in Syria.
Hazzm, one of the last remnants of non-jihadist opposition to President Bashar al-Assad in northern Syria, dissolved itself last week after weeks of fighting with the Nusra Front.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the conflict, also said that al-Shami was killed, as well as other Nusra Front members.
The war started in 2011 after security forces cracked down on a peaceful pro-democracy movement.
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