Russia has critically injured the leader of an al-Qaeda-linked militant group in Syria, killing a dozen of its field commanders, Moscow said today.
Abu Mohamad al-Golani, leader of Tahrir al-Sham – formerly the al-Nusra Front – lost an arm an air strike on his position carried out by two Russian planes on Tuesday.
The militant leader, who was the head of the al-Nusra Front before it merged with other groups to form Tahrir al-Sham, is currently in a critical condition, according to the Russian Defence ministry.
Abu Mohamad al-Golani, leader of Tahrir al-Sham formerly the al-Nusra Front, lost an arm in air strike on his position in Syria, which also killed 12 of his field commanders
‘As a result of the strike, the Nusra Front leader, Abu Mohamad al-Golani, sustained numerous shrapnel wounds and, having lost an arm, is in a critical condition, according to information from several independent sources,’ Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
He said 12 field commanders including al-Golani’s security chief were also killed along with some 50 guards.
More than ten fighters received moderate and serious blast injuries, he said, adding that Sukhoi Su-34 and Su-35 jets were used to target the jihadists.
The Moscow-led forces were able to hunt down the jihadist group using data obtained by Russian military intelligence on Tuesday and struck just when the fighters convened for a meeting.
Russia used Sukhoi Su-35 bombers, pictured, to target Tahrir al-Sham leaders during a meeting at an unknown location in Syria
The Jabhat al-Nusra, or al-Nusra Front, shed its status as Al-Qaeda´s Syrian affiliate in 2016 and became Fateh al-Sham Front.
Since 2017, it dominates a coalition of jihadist factions called Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
The alliance controls most of the northwestern province of Idlib after expelling former allies earlier this year.
Washington and the UN did not recognise the break from Al-Qaeda and retained the jihadists on their terror blacklists.
Over the past months Russia has claimed to have killed several top jihadist commanders.
Russia reported in June its jets had possibly killed the leader of the Islamic State group Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi during a bombing raid near the IS stronghold of Raqa in Syria and said in July it was struggling to confirm if he was dead or alive.
Earlier this month the IS group released an audio recording of what it said was its leader al-Baghdadi.
Last month Russia claimed to have killed several top IS commanders in an air strike including the US-trained ‘minister of war’ Gulmurod Khalimov.
Since the assault on Russian military police, Idlib has been the target of heavy air strikes by the Syrian regime and Russia.
The Russian defence ministry said three officers were wounded in the September 18 attack and would be decorated, while the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human rights said three Russian soldiers had been killed in clashes with IS jihadists.
Idlib province and some adjacent areas form one of four so-called de-escalation zones agreed in May by rebel backer Turkey and government allies Russia and Iran.
Russia intervened in support of the regime of Bashar al-Assad in September 2015 and has helped government forces win back large parts of the country.
Over the past weeks, Russia has lost a number of officers in the conflict including a general, Valery Asapov, believed to be the country’s highest-ranking casualty of the Syrian campaign.
More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.