Latest news with #HurrasAlDin
Arab News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Syria rescuers say two killed in drone strikes on northwest
DAMASCUS: Two people were killed in separate drone strikes Tuesday on a car and a motorcycle in the northwestern bastion of the Islamist former rebels who now head the Syrian government, rescuers said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the twin drone strikes in the Idlib region but a US-led coalition in Syria has carried out past strikes on terrorists in the area. Earlier this year, the United States said it killed several commanders of Al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate Hurras Al-Din in the area. The group had recently announced it was breaking up on the orders of the interim government set up by the rebels after their overthrow of Bashar Assad in December. US troops are deployed in Syria as part of a US-led coalition to fight the Daesh group. When contacted by AFP, a US defense official said they were aware of the reports but had 'nothing to provide' at the time. During a meeting in Riyadh last month, US President Donald Trump called on his Syrian counterpart Ahmed Al-Sharaa to help Washington prevent a resurgence by Daesh.
Al Arabiya
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Syria rescuers say two killed in drone strikes on northwest
Two people were killed in separate drone strikes Tuesday on a car and a motorcycle in Syria, rescuers said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the twin drone strikes in the Idlib region but a US-led coalition in Syria has carried out past strikes on extremists in the area. Earlier this year, the United States said it killed several commanders of al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate Hurras al-Din in the area. The group had recently announced it was breaking up on the orders of the interim government set up after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December. US troops are deployed in Syria as part of a US-led coalition to fight the ISIS. US Central Command (CENTCOM) did not immediately respond to a request for comment. During a meeting in Riyadh last month, US President Donald Trump called on his Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa to help Washington to prevent a resurgence by ISIS.
The National
16-02-2025
- Politics
- The National
Air strike kills Al Qaeda-linked militant as Syria's new leader tours north
An aerial strike has killed a militant figure linked to Al Qaeda in the north-west governorate of Idlib, sources said on Sunday, as Syria's new Hayat Tahrir Al Sham-led government seeks to improve the country's ties with Washington. The White Helmets, a civil defence organisation, said "rescue teams pulled out the bodies and transported them to the coroner" in Idlib city, the provincial capital. There was no immediate comment from Washington. The attack late on Saturday occurred as Ahmad Al Shara, the country's new leader, was in Idlib for the first time since rebels he commands declared him President last month. Idlib was the base of HTS before it launched an offensive in late last year that led to the downfall of the Assad regime. Mr Al Shara's government on Saturday announced the arrest of what it described as an ISIS commander, accused of planning an attack on a shrine in Damascus, as it distances itself from extremist groups in the country. Videos taken by residents on the scene at a motorway near the village of Urum Al Joz in Idlib showed civil defence personnel gathering human remains from a burnt-out vehicle. Sources identified one of the dead as Abu Baker Mourek, of Hurras Al Din, a group regarded as more extreme than HTS, which had consolidated power in the area over the past decade, HTS, however, had allowed some former rivals to keep operating as allies in the struggle against former president Bashar Al Assad. In late January, US Central Command said an air strike in north-west Syria had killed Muhammad Salah Al Zabir, who it described as 'a senior operative in the terrorist organisation Hurras Al Din'. Despite continuing military operations in Syria, the US Defence Department has drawn plans to pull its troops from the country, US media reported last week, citing unnamed officials. President Donald Trump has indicated his preference for a withdrawal from Syria, although he backed down from such a step during his first term from 2017 to 2021. A report by the Foundation of the Defence of Democracies last month described Hurras Al Din as Al Qaeda's official branch in Syria. It said the organisation of about 2,500 members was formed by commanders who had broken off from HTS in 2018. HTS severed itself from Al Qaeda in 2014, when Mr Al Shara began a process of power consolidation that helped him overthrow the Assad regime on December 8 last year. Relations with extremists and foreign fighters in particular has become an obstacle in talks between Mr Al Shara and western countries. Two senior US officials met Mr Al Shara in Damascus last month. They relayed concerns about his inclusion of foreign fighters in Syria's new security force. A source told The National that Mr Al Shara said their integration was necessary to preserve stability. How to deal with extremists was also the object of discussions on a visit last week by Anas Al Khattab, the new intelligence chief, and French officials, Syrian sources said.
The National
31-01-2025
- Politics
- The National
Air strike kills senior Al Qaeda-linked militant in Syria as US continues ‘ninja missile' campaign
A US air strike has killed a senior operative of an Al Qaeda -affiliated group in north-west Syria, the US military said on Friday, as Washington continues an opaque drone and special forces campaign targeting militants in the region. The strike resulted in the death of Muhammad Salah Al Za'bir on Thursday, according to US Central Command, America's military headquarters in the Middle East. He was a prominent member of militant group Hurras Al Din, which was formed in Syria in 2018, two years after a split between Jabhat Al Nusra – now Syria's ruling Hayat Tahrir Al Sham – and Al Qaeda's central leadership. Since around 2015, the US has waged a shadowy drone and special forces programme in Syria led by the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command. Initially it targeted ISIS but Al Qaeda remnants have also become a significant target. In December last year, the US launched dozens of air strikes against ISIS in Syria after Bashar Al Assad 's regime collapsed. ISIS are now at a low ebb in the country, ground down by multiple opponents, from Hayat Tahrir Al Sham to Kurdish militias backed by the US and local tribes. 'The air strike is part of Centcom's ongoing commitment, along with partners in the region, to disrupt and degrade efforts by terrorists to plan, organise, and conduct attacks against civilians and military personnel from the US, our allies, and our partners throughout the region and beyond,' Centcom said. Last week, Hurras Al Din said it had disbanded, apparently on the orders of central Al Qaeda leadership. The group, which includes foreign fighters, had been under pressure in northern Syria for years after clashing with Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, who arrested and assassinated scores of its leaders, part of a brutal power struggle in Idlib. Idlib was the last Syrian rebel stronghold until the rapid collapse of the Assad regime in December. Before then, experts say Hurras Al Din and Hayat Tahrir Al Sham co-ordinated on some operations, before their power struggle began around 2021. Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, after it consolidated control of Idlib and allied with a number of smaller rebel groups, broke out in a lightning offensive last month that imploded Mr Al Assad's weak regime. 'Ninja missiles' Hurras Al Din has additionally been hit sporadically by a US drone campaign, which also targeted ISIS leaders, often in densely populated areas. To reduce civilian casualties, the US air campaign has sometimes relied on so-called 'knife bomb' Hellfire R9X missiles, also dubbed the 'ninja missile', which features an array of blades and no explosive warhead. Photos on social media of a destroyed car said to belong to Mr Al Za'bir suggest such a weapon may have been used in the attack that killed him, because the body of the vehicle is sliced and mangled and there are no signs of fire or shrapnel associated with explosively armed Hellfire missiles. The R9X is first thought to have been used in 2017 against Abu Khayr Al Masri, an Al Qaeda commander in Idlib. Since then, the 'kinetic' weapon has also been used to kill Al Qaeda commander Ayman Zawahiri in Afghanistan in 2022. That attack followed a disastrous US strike on a suspected ISIS hideout in Kabul, which killed 10 civilians during the city's fall to the Taliban in 2021.
