Commander of a prominent terrorist organization eliminated in Syria

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 25, ARMENPRESS. Zahran Alloush, head of the powerful jihadist group Jaysh al-Islam, operating in the suburbs of Damascus, has been killed in an airstrike, rebels and state media said Friday.

“Arenpress” reports, citing Russia Today, the airstrike targeted the headquarters of Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam), a coalition of different extremist groups fighting against Syrian government forces.

Two rebel sources confirmed to Reuters the airstrike killed Alloush. Later, Syrian state media confirmed the death of the rebel leader and several other group members.

Though they alleged that the attack was carried out by “Russian planes” the information has not been officially confirmed.

Jaysh al-Islam is a coalition of Islamist and Salafist units mainly headquartered in the Damascus neighborhoods of Eastern Ghouta and Douma, where it controls large territories. The rebel group includes thousands of trained fighters and is seen as the biggest and the most organized.

Though it is not part of the Free Syrian Army, a big umbrella group of forces fighting against troops loyal to President Bashar Assad, the coalition still took part in the conference held by Saudi Arabia in early December, aimed at trying to agree a common position from which to negotiate with the current Syrian government.

Critics have accused Jaysh al-Islam of methods comparable to those of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) militants, as it reportedly resorts to the same inhumanemethods used by the terrorist group, including public executions of prisoners.

Alloush has called for the cleansing of Alawites and Shiites in various IS-like propaganda videos posted on YouTube.