Syria's al-Nusra Front commander 'killed in strike'

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: BBC

The military chief of Syria's al-Nusra Front militant group has been killed in an air strike, the group has said.

The jihadist group said on social media that three other leaders were killed along with Abu Homam al-Shami.

Syria's state-run news agency said the army had targeted Nusra leaders as they met in northern Idlib province, the Associated Press reported.
...
It was involved in a major attack on the Air Force Intelligence headquarters in the embattled city of Aleppo on Wednesday.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-31757502

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That earlier attack in Aleppo:

Syria conflict: Blast hits Aleppo intelligence HQ

Dozens of Syrian security personnel and rebels have been killed in an attack on an intelligence facility in the city of Aleppo, a monitoring group says.

The attack began when a bomb placed in a tunnel near Air Force Intelligence's headquarters was detonated, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

Jihadist and Islamist rebels then launched an assault on the building.
...
Residents said the blast shook most of Aleppo, after rebels set off a large quantity of explosives in a tunnel running underneath or near the headquarters of the much-feared Air Force Intelligence in the western district of Jamiat al-Zahra on Wednesday afternoon.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-31730249

It registered as a 2.3 magnitude tremor.

[wordpix]

1. what a hornet's mess & US to blame for selling billion$ in arms

to various ME parties who were friends then but not today or are friends now but not tomorrow. Now the region is awash in high powered warfare technology that results in massive death, destruction and displacement. It's very sad.

[geek tragedy]

2. Most of the weapons being used in Syria are of Russian/Soviet origin nt

[wordpix]

3. I'm talking about other places like Qatar

[wordpix]

4. Hey, geek I see you have a healthcare.gov icon so a question

I want the Supremes to do the right thing in this Burwell case. Do you know of an org putting pressure on the court to side with the government, and how would one do that? A letter campaign? An online petition?

[geek tragedy]

5. There's no direct way of lobbying the court.

I'd start with your neighbors and friends, and talking about the consequences if they do kill the subsidies.

[JackRiddler]

8. Rationalize away.

The U.S. government destroyed both of these countries with its war of aggression in 2003, and supports the worst regimes in the world, the oil kingdoms around the Gulf - the very ones who finance ISIS and the jihadis in Syria.

[Comrade Grumpy]

6. Nice graphic on US and Russian arms sales worldwide and by country here:

http://www.businessinsider.com/arms-sales-by-the-us-and-russia-2014-8

Looks like we're about even.

Bidness is bidness. $$$$$$$$$$$$$

[geek tragedy]

7. Some interesting totals there.

But, no Russian arms to Cuba or Nicaragua but $1.5 Billion worth to Venezuela?

[wordpix]

11. that's nothing, US signed $11 billion arms deal to Qatar, Hamas' financier

http://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA13/20140909/102629/HHRG-113-FA13-Wstate-SchanzerJ-20140909.pdf
p.16.

Due to Iran having a tiff with Hamas over Syria, Qatar is now one of Hamas' biggest backers.
Funny, I did not hear Bibi say a word about US arms sales to Hamas financiers.

What a den of iniquity and we're right in there with our arms sales

[wordpix]

10. heaven forbid we should say no to Raytheon, etc. about selling their death machines

to all these countries. Thanks for the graphic, Grumpy

[Nihil]

9. So ... was he a "good" Syrian terrorist or a "bad" Syrian terrorist?

It's hard to keep track of who is (and always has been) an ally and who is (and always has been) an enemy ...

[Takashi Zara]

12. The commander in question died in a Syrian government bombing raid

That makes him a "good" Syrian terrorist by the prevailing standard.

an-Nusrah opposes the Syrian government and is the sworn enemy and rival of the self-proclaimed khalifah, and given their feelings on Iranians and Shiites, I'm surprised they didn't have a delegation sitting front-row-center at Bibi's recent speech.

On a more serious note, there is some speculation that Emir Jolani was also targeted in the Syrian army operation in Hobait (rural Idlib), though there is no confirmation that he was among the dead. SOHR--a notorious "rebel" propaganda outfit from London--mentions "a number" of dead "high profile commanders" in its recent report but does not specify the others.