General Military Commander Abu Humam al-Shami, a veteran of Islamist militant fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, was killed as he was attending a high-level militant meeting in the northwestern province of Idlib, insurgent sources told Reuters.
The sources said at least three other Nusra Front commanders were also killed in the blast, which they said hit the town of Salqin, near the border with Turkey.
However, there has not been any official communication from the Nursa Front itself confirming Abu Humam’s death, said FRANCE 24’s terrorism expert Wassim Nasr.
A source within the group had confirmed that Abu Humam had been injured in an air strike, but he was “not sure he if he is dead”, said Nasr.
There was also confusion as to who carried out the air strike.
Insurgent sources told Reuters it was launched by the US-led coalition, but a coalition spokesman said it had not conducted air strikes in the province during the past 24 hours.
Syrian state media, meanwhile, reported that the Syrian army was responsible.
The Syrian state news agency SANA, quoting its correspondent, also said that the meeting was held in the village of Hobait, in a rural area of Idlib, rather than Salqin.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an organisation that tracks the war, said it had received conflicting information on where Abu Humam had been killed.
Syrian insurgents have also been known to target members of rival militant groups by planting bombs at meetings.
‘Major blow’
The reported death of Abu Humam 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.
“It’s a major blow to Nusra. A very painful, very powerful hit,” one insurgent source said, declining to be named as he was not allowed to speak to the media.
The United States has carried out strikes against one of Nusra’s jihadi rivals, the Islamic State group, in Iraq since July and in Syria since September. It has also targeted Nusra fighters in Syria.
The Nusra Front has also battled western-backed Syrian rebels this year, seizing their territory and forcing them to disarm so as to consolidate its power in northern 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. After Thursday’s attack, the Nusra Front told its members not to provide information to the media, the insurgent sources said.
The weakness of the mainstream Syrian opposition and the growing power of the Nusra Front and the Islamic State group has complicated diplomatic efforts to end the Syrian conflict that has killed around 200,000 people.
(BALOOGG'S BLOG FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)
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