Syrian activists claim a top commander in Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate has been killed in a airstrike.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Abdul Mohsen Abdallah Ibrahim al-Charekh, a Saudi better known as Sanafi al-Nasr, was killed on Thursday in an airstrike near the northern Syrian town of Dana.
The Observatory’s chief Rami Abdurrahman said Saturday it was not clear if al-Charekh was killed by US or Russian warplanes.
Jihadi activists on social media claim he was killed by a US drone strike.
Al-Charekh, the alleged leader of Al Qaeda’s operations in Syria, was one of six men that the UN Security Council had imposed sanctions on last year.
His death came three months after the US killed top Al Qaeda official Muhsin al-Fadhli. Al-Qaida’s Syrian affiliate is led by Abu Muhammed al-Golani.