Rebel leader killed in air strike in Syria

Zahran Alloush, head of the powerful Jaish Al-Islam Syrian rebel group, was killed on Friday east of Damascus, a monitoring group and Syria’s opposition said.

BEIRUT (AP) – A Syrian insurgent group whose commander was assassinated by an airstrike says it has appointed a successor.

Mr Alloush’s death also comes amid intensifying diplomacy over the Syrian crisis, which has killed more than 250,000 people, displaced millions and emboldened extremist groups such as Islamic State.

The group took part earlier this month in an opposition meeting held in Saudi Arabia to agree on an opposition delegation that would negotiate with government representatives in planned peace talks.

Alloush, the son of a Salafist preacher who now lives in Saudi Arabia, was jailed for weapons possession in 2009 but released in 2011 as part of a general amnesty. Syrian state media also reported his death.

THE leader of one of Syria’s most powerful Islamist rebel groups has been killed in an air strike, according to sources on the ground in the country.

Jaysh al Islam regularly launched rocket barrages into Damascus.

The Syrian government regularly refers to the group as “terrorists”. “Their political philosophy and blue print for the future is largely based on a similar reading of Islamic history and the Qur’an”.

The Local Coordination Committees said Allouch was killed by a Russian air strike in al-Marj area near Damascus.

Alloush’s group is accused of kidnapping lawyer and human rights defender Razan Zaitounah more than two years ago.

The TV report said coaches that had arrived on Friday to pick up the fighters and at least 1,500 family members had turned back.

In a rare sign of unity over Syria, the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution last week backing a peace process to end the civil war.

They said a secret headquarters of the rebel group, which is the largest rebel faction in the area and has thousands of fighters, was targeted by what they described as Russian planes. Alloush frequently referred to Syria’s Shia and Alawite minorities as “filthy” and “despicable”, he also praised Osama bin Laden and claimed denounced democracy, calling for Syria to become an Islamic state ruled by Sharia law.

The Daily Beast published an interview with Alloush earlier this month, where he said the group’s priorities “are those initial priorities of the revolution”.