Al Qaeda leader in Syria town assassinated — monitor

By AFP - Jan 21,2016 - Last updated at Jan 21,2016

BEIRUT — A local leader of Al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate was assassinated by unknown gunmen on Wednesday, the latest in a string of killings of mostly hardline rebels, a monitor said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Iyad Al Adl, "emir" for the town of Ariha in northwestern Syria's Idlib province, was shot dead along with a second member of Al Nusra Front.

The Britain-based monitor said unidentified gunmen opened fire on the car in which the men were driving in a western neighbourhood of Ariha.

The assassination is the latest in a series of targeted killings of senior hardline rebels, including from the Al Qaeda affiliate Nusra and its ally Ahrar Al Sham.

Analysts say the killings could be the work of the regime or the Daesh terror group, which considers all factions that have not pledged allegiance to it to be its rivals.

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