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Page added on September 13, 2014
Entire Leadership of ISIS Opposition Wiped Out by ‘Unexplained’ Explosion
Nearly fifty senior commanders of a major coalition of Islamic ‘moderates’ opposed to ISIS in Syria have been killed by an explosion at their secret command bunker as they met to discuss strategy against the the Islamic State.
The blast in the Northwest region of Idlib, Syria on Tuesday killed senior members of rebel group the Ahrar-al-Sham brigade (AaS), including leader Hassan Abboud and 45 others including senior members from other rebel alliance groups, reports The Times. The Idlib region stands in AaS territory, but it is close to the front-line with ISIS in neighbouring Aleppo.
Sources dispute the source of the blast, with it being unclear whether it was an opposition group, suicide bomber, or accidental explosion at a nearby ammunition dump. Regardless, the incident will destabilise and possibly tear apart the AaS group and associated Islamic Front Coalition which was recently described as “the most powerful armed group in Syria”.
Islamic group Ahrar-al-Sham, whose name translates as ‘The Free Men of Syria’, is one of many movements competing in the inter-rebel conflict in Syria. A number of rebel groups are presently fighting each other as well as besieged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose power base is in West and South-West, for overall control of the Region.
As the main rival to ISIS for control of Syria, the AaS blast if not orchestrated by the Islamic State will certainly be greatly beneficial to them. The ‘decapitation’ strategy, targeting Ahrar-al-Sham’s political, military and spiritual leadership is reminiscent of the United States’ targeted strikes against the leadership of Al-Qaeda.
The death of Abboud and his followers in Idlib highlights the difficulty of Western involvement in the conflict, where enemies of the apparent first enemy ISIS also make fairly poor potential allies. Many members of AaS have come from groups like Al-Qaeda and would in any other context be considered hard line Islamists.
The Ahrar-al-Sham brigade has also been extremely critical of Western involvement in the conflict. In an interview before his death leader Abboud rejected the Geneva peace conference saying: “We see Geneva as a tool of manipulation; to derail the Syrian revolution away from its goals and objectives …. Whatever outcome the conference may yield, will be binding on the Syrian National Coalition only. For us, we will continue to fight for our revolution until we restore our rights”.
Ahrar-al-Sham has appointed a new leader, Hashim al-Sheikh, who will attempt to hold together the fragile coalition which has lost most of its senior thinkers and strategists. al-Sheik said the attack “will only make us more resilient to fight and continue the fight until we liberate our homeland” on Wednesday.
9 Comments on "Entire Leadership of ISIS Opposition Wiped Out by ‘Unexplained’ Explosion"
MSN fanboy on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 6:14 am
Any luck ISIS shall force America into a boots on the ground conflict again.
Get them more into debt LOL
rockman on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 7:50 am
The situation seems to becoming a replay of the battles between the mob families in the US in the early 1900’s. Each group cutting out their share of the pie and supporting their “brothers”. Until there’s an advantage to cutting a brother’s throat. And the same similarity of politicians aligning themselves where the leverage exists on any given day. Just as the US supports Baghdad and might be coming to the aid of the Kurds. With the same potential for such parties to turn against us in the future just as the Afghanistan Mujahideen evolved into the Taliban.
Perhaps an overstatement but it seems as though the US is playing checkers while many others are playing chess.
Plantagenet on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 10:34 am
The US already has “boots on the ground” in Iraq. Obama has sent 3000 US marines, special forces, etc. to Iraq and papers outside the US are reporting US special forces are fighting side by side with the Kurds. Obama’s repeated claims that he won’t put “boots on the grounds” are lies that have already been falsified.
Davy on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 10:51 am
Planter, you are correct. Obama will justify his lies by categorically defining “boots on the ground” not to include special forces or humanitarian relief. If they get caught in combat that is the nature of war. I wonder if “O” lies on the golf course too?
Poordogabone on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 2:28 pm
They will be plenty of boots on the ground but not ours, we fighting from the air. The US personnel on the ground are there to defend the green zone in case things get out of hand. Special forces numbered in dozens are not considered boots on the ground in a country of millions. Iraqis just won’t tolerate american units after the botched job that they performed in recent history.
longtimber on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 2:41 pm
Some warnings:
Does the west have a Dog in this Hunt? What’s it got to do with the Saudi’s? US Stagey based on US Political concerns? Is there a way out or endgame for the West?
http://johnbatchelorshow.com/podcasts/2014/09/12/second-hour
vox_mundi on Sat, 13th Sep 2014 6:36 pm
Be cautious about how much credence you give to Breitbart blog. They are about 3 clicks to the right of Faux (news?) and they have a reputation for making up news from whole cloth.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breitbart_(website)
steve on Sun, 14th Sep 2014 11:17 am
Look analyzing this all from a armchair and our computer is just a waste of time. There is a deep state in control and we just don’t know what is going on from our limited media…ISIs is in …wait they are out….Kurds are dominate…wait they are not…it is all just a BS Slidshow…
PrestonSturges on Sun, 14th Sep 2014 12:10 pm
This story was in the Washington Post before Breitbart and there is no reason to link to him.