Al-Nusra Front Leader Killed in a Drone Strike
Abu Firas al-Souri – a leader of the al-Nusra front, al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria – was killed on Sunday in an alleged U.S. drone strike in rebel-held Idlib, northern Syria.
The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the reports, saying that al-Souri was killed along with a number of companions.
Some sources stated that the leader’s death was a result of a U.S. drone strike, while the Observatory suspected that Syrian or Russian air raids on a village in northwestern Idlib killed al-Souri, Reuters reported.
A U.S. security official denied having any information to offer on the incident on Sunday.
Abu Firas was a founding member of al-Qaida and a member of the group’s policy-making Shura Council. He fought in Afghanistan in the 1980s, working alongside Osama bin Laden in galvanizing support for the Taliban movement, as reported by rebel sources.
He was an officer in the Syrian army before being discharged in the late 1970s because of his Islamist inclinations.
Exempted from the U.S.-Russia-brokered truce, the al-Nusra Front has frequently been attacked by Syrian and Russian air forces.
Syrian Alawites Threaten to Abandon Assad
Leaders of the Alawite sect in Syria have released a document distancing its members from the Syrian government and threatening to abandon President Bashar al-Assad completely.
The document was made public in an attempt to “shine a light” on the Alawites, a group known for secrecy and closely linked to Assad and his father Hafez.
The Alawites have dominated Syria’s political scene for the past four decades, but the writers of the document stressed that Bashar al-Assad’s government “can only be considered according to the criteria of democracy and fundamental rights.”
The anonymous leaders behind the document told BBC News that the sect “should not be associated with the crimes the regime has committed,” pointing out that the Alawites existed before the Assad regime, “and will exist after it.”
The eight-page document is titled “A Declaration of Identity Reform,” and offers an insight into the Alawites’ affiliations within the Islamic religion.
The leaders behind the text state that the Alawite grouping is not a branch of Shia Islam – as it has been described by Shia clerics in the past.
They also point to the sect’s adherence to “the values of equality, liberty and citizenship,” and its call for Syria’s future to embrace secularism and a system of governance in which Islam, Christianity and all other religions have equal standing.
Syrian Forces Retake Town of al-Qaryatain From ISIS
Syrian military forces have retaken the town of al-Qaryatain from ISIS militants, a week after seizing the the ancient city of Palmyra.
The capture of al-Qaryatain came with the support of Russian airstrikes, giving the government a strategic victory by securing oil and gas routes between the capital Damascus and oilfields in eastern Syria, according to state media sources.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights refuted the claims and said the declaration of victory was premature, especially because ISIS militants still controlled the eastern and southeastern parts of al-Qaryatain, and that only some of the fighters had begun to retreat to the nearby mountainous region, Voice of America reported.
The town of al-Qaryatain has been under ISIS control since last August. It had a sizeable Christian population prior to the war in Syria; some Christians were abducted and others forced to sign a pledge to pay a tax imposed on non-Muslims.
Recommended Reads
- The Wall Street Journal: The Syrian Pound’s Black Market Moves Are a Futures Contract on Bashar Al-Assad
- Voice of America: ‘Cyrillic Jihadists’ Bring Discipline to I.S. in Syria
- The New York Times: In Istanbul, an Arabic Bookstore Anchors Syrian Refugees
- War on the Rocks: How Ankara’s Policy Choices Enabled Its Terrorism Problem
- Syria Direct: After Years of War, Some Syrian Youth ‘Don’t Know They Are Still Just Children’
- Human Rights Watch: Syria: Promised Aid for Key Areas Blocked
- The Daily Beast: Intel Analysts: We Were Forced out for Telling the Truth About Obama’s ISIS War
- Carnegie Middle East Centre: Suspended Conflict in Syria: Reinterpreting Russia’s Partial Pull-Out
Top image: Syrian soldiers explain the military operation to clear Palmyra to journalists on Friday, April 1, 2016. (Associated Press)