Syria says top rebel leader killed in aerial raid on Damascus suburbs

An air strike near Syria’s capital Damascus has killed top rebel commander Zahran Allouch, according to opposition activists.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said an airstrike hit an Army of Islam meeting near the Damascus suburb of Otaya, killing several rebel commanders including Allouch.

Local opposition figures reached in Damascus said the airstrikes had been carried out by Russian warplanes, but that information was not immediately confirmed by Russian or Syrian officials.

Saudi-backed Alloush was among the most powerful rebel leaders and his group controls large swaths of Damascus.

It recently joined an opposition summit in Riyadh which produced a framework for peace talks with the government.

Eastern Ghouta, which is under the control of Jaysh al-Islam is regularly bombarded by government and Russian forces.

Founder Zahroun Alloush was among those killed when rockets hit a meeting place, rebels and activists said.

Jaysh al Islam has effectively been running the administration of the Eastern Ghouta area since 2013, when the group was formed from an amalgamation of scores of rebel brigades. The group is part of the Islamic Front. The Observatory, which tracks the Syrian conflict through a network of activists, says there were women and children among the casualties.

Critics accuse him of sectarian politics and brutal tactics similar to that of the Islamic State group. But there have also been reports that while on regional visits to countries hostile to Assad’s government including Turkey and Saudi Arabia, Alloush failed to win the support he wanted for his group.

Two rebel sources said a secret headquarters of the group, which is the largest rebel faction in the area and has thousands of fighters, was targeted by what they described as Russian planes. He also praised countries that have taken in refugees.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis issued a Christmas Day prayer that the recent United Nations-backed peace process would end suffering in war-torn Syria.