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.
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