Former al-Qaida’s assistant killed during battles near two Shiite towns in Syria
Ahlul Bayt News Agency – An assistant of the former al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was killed during battles near two Shiite towns in northwestern Syria, a monitor group reported on Saturday.
Abu Hassan al-Tunisi, the Arabic for the Tunisian Abu Hassan, which was an assistant of bin Laden in Afghanistan, was killed during intense battles waged by the al-Qaida-linked militants against the predominantly Shiite towns of Kafraya and Foa in the countryside of Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, said the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The UK-based watchdog group said the battles raged over past 24 hours, in the latest push by the jihadi rebels to storm both Shiite towns, which have been under tight siege for months since much of Idlib province fell to the al-Qaida-affiliated groups.
Meanwhile, the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said at least 100 rebels have been killed during the latest flare of battles near the towns, as the Shiite militants inside repelled the violent attack.
The Observatory said the terrorist groups on Friday detonated four booby-trapped vehicles and fired over 250 mortar shells into both Shiite towns.
It said the Syrian air force carried out airstrikes against the rebel positions in Binnish, a town in Idlib, which has largely fallen to the rebels, except the two Shiite towns and some points in its countryside.
Earlier this month, the rebels in Idlib captured the Abu al-Duhur airbase, killing 71 Syrian soldiers, according to the Observatory.
Meanwhile, people from the two Shiite towns who live in Damascus staged several rallies recently at the international road of the Damascus airport, demanding that the government forces and the Lebanese Hezbollah group transport them to Foa and Kafraya.
The militants were killed after local forces repelled fresh attacks by the al-Nusra Front terrorist group on al-Foua and Kefraya villages.
Sources said a number of militants from Uzbekistan and Chechnya were among those killed in the fierce exchange of gunfire.
Both villages fell under a siege by al-Nusra Front terrorists more than five months ago. Dozens of civilians have been killed and hundreds injured in the two villages during this period.
The foreign-sponsored conflict in Syria, which flared in March 2011, has reportedly claimed more than 240,000 lives up until now.
The United Nations says the militancy has displaced more than 7.2 million Syrians internally, and compelled over four million others to take refuge in neighboring countries, including Jordan and Lebanon.
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