A Tunisian jihadist leader, installed in Syria and implicated in the deaths of 20 Druze in 2015, was killed by drone fire in the northwest of the country at war, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Tuesday (September 15th). 'Male (OSDH).
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The drone attack against Sayyaf al-Tounsi took place Monday in the city of Idleb, according to the Observatory, which points to the possible responsibility in this raid by US forces intervening in Syria against the jihadists.
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The armed drone targeted the car of a commander of Houras al-Din, who was killed,
" OSDH director Rami Abdel Rahmane told AFP.
The Tunisian jihadist was formerly affiliated with Hayat Tahrir al-Cham (HTS), the ex-branch of Al-Qaeda which dominates entire swathes of Idlib province, before joining Houras al-Din, a small group linked to Al -Qaida, he stressed.
The Tunisian was removed from HTS for his involvement in June 2015 in the murder of 20 members of the Druze minority in Syria, in the small village of Qalb Laouza, in the province of Idleb, according to the OSDH.
American troops, intervening in Syria in support of local Kurdish forces as part of an international coalition, have already carried out similar raids in North-West Syria in recent months, reported by OSDH but rarely confirmed by Washington.
In June, two commanders of Houras al-Din were killed in a drone attack.
OSDH considered that this attack was probably carried out by the United States.
In October 2019, the head of the Islamic State group Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had died in an American operation in the Northwest.
The Druze community, a heterodox Muslim minority, represents about 3% of the Syrian population and lives mainly in the southern province of Soueida.
This community is divided, with some of its members fighting on the side of the regime, while others have expressed sympathy for the opposition.
Triggered in 2011 by the repression of pro-democracy protests, the Syrian conflict has grown in complexity over the years, involving a multitude of foreign powers and armed groups.
The war has claimed more than 380,000 lives and displaced millions of people.
