Commanders of the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra were killed or wounded in an airstrike in Idlib Province in northwest Syria.
Among the casualties was Jabhat al-Nusra’s general military commander Abu Hammam al-Shami (pictured), also known as al-Farouq al-Suri. There are conflicting reports over whether he is dead or injured.
Social media accounts supporting Jabhat al-Nusra said Abu Musab Falastini, Abu Omar Kurdi, and Abu Baraa Ansari were killed.
Claims circulated that the commanders were slain by a US airstrike; however, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren denied responsibility:
We cannot confirm press reports of the deaths of senior al-Nusra leaders near the province of Idlib.
Neither the US or the coalition have conducted air strikes near that location in recent days.
The attack came a day after rebels carried out a deadly assault on the Syrian Air Force Intelligence building in northwest Aleppo, damaging the complex with an underground bomb and causing dozens of casualties in the explosion and follow-up ground operation.
