Syrian rebel leader killed in suicide bombing

The head of one of Syria’s largest rebel groups has been killed in a suicide bombing alongside many of his leading fighters and activists, state media have reported.

Hassan Aboud of Ahrar al-Sham, an ultra-conservative Syrian rebel group, was killed in the northwestern town of Ram Hamdan in the province of Idlib, an activist collective called the Edlib News Network and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

Both groups said other leading group members were killed after a suicide bomber detonated his explosives belt in a meeting of Ahrar al-Sham’s leaders.

The observatory bases its information from a network of activists on the ground.

The group previously fought against the extremist Islamic State group, which now holds a swath of territory across Syria and Iraq.

Ahrar al-Sham had blamed the Islamic State group for the killing of one of their leaders, Abu Khaled al-Souri, in February.

Ahrar al-Sham advocates the implementation of an ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam, but had worked with more moderate rebel groups trying to oust President Bashar al-Assad. (PA)