Syria Conflict: Jaysh Al-Islam Rebel Leaders Die In Air Strike

The Syrian government and its media regularly refers to Jaish al-Islam as “terrorists”, and state television did so again in the news alert announcing Alloush’s death, saying that Syria’s army command had conducted the “special operation” that killed Alloush as part of its “national mission”.

In a video posted on the Internet late Thursday, a spokesman for the Army of Islam said Alloush’s killing “will only increase our fight” against Assad’s government and the ISIL group.

Moscow insisted it has been targeting Islamic State, but rebels and Western officials said the Russian strikes have mainly been hitting other groups.

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.

A 40-year-old businessman and fighter from Douma in Eastern Ghouta, he hails from a family with strong ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, the monitor said.

Defence experts say Alloush’s killing, combined with the disarray among the rebel forces, could strengthen Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s control over the rest of the area. The village itself is known to house many chicken farms, which supply large parts of Syria with eggs and the attack apparently took place in one of the chicken farms.

“We’re seeking from the Syrian government further details of any negotiated arrangements that will affect the humanitarian situation of civilians in Yarmouk”, UNRWA stated, while adding that “any arrangements being negotiated in and around Yarmouk must include guarantees for a durable cessation of hostilities, for the protection of civilians, and for safe, uninterrupted humanitarian access for UNRWA and other humanitarian actors”.

Rami Khouri, of the American University in Beirut, said that “knocking off” Alloush was “a real blow to the mainstream nationalist opposition”.

As a goodwill sign, the rebels started removing sand barriers and opened roads between al-Hajar al-Aswad and al-Qadam, while the government busses were allowed to reach those areas as part of preparations to evacuate the hardline jihadists, the source said.

Abu Hassan al-Muhajer, another senior member of Ahrar al-Sham, wrote on Twitter that the “next stage will witness the liquidation of those leaders who began the uprising” against Assad.

The Syrian army confirmed the death of Zahran Alloush, whose Jaysh al Islam grouping has thousands of fighters and is the biggest rebel faction in the area. The transfer was said to have been scheduled for Saturday but, with the confusion created by Alloush’s death, the plan has stalled.

He reflected the difficulties in identifying moderate rebels from extremists and other militants in Syria.

Allouch, who was in his mid-40s, was widely known to be supported by Saudi Arabia and Turkey. “Their political philosophy and blueprint for the future is largely based on a similar reading of Islamic history and the Qur’an”.

They accuse Alloush of abducting iconic human rights activist Razan Zeitouneh and four of her colleagues back in December 2013.

They are due to leave under a United Nations-brokered deal that marks another success for the Assad government, increasing its chances of reasserting control over a strategic area just 4 km (2.5 miles) south of the centre of the capital.

Alloush, born in 1971, was an active Syrian rebel leader during Syria’s almost five years of conflict.

The Syrian army said Alloush was killed as the result of intelligence on the ground.