US Army Confirms Targeting Jabhat Fatah al-Sham Leader in Syria

The Pentagon confirmed on Tuesday that the US army had carried out strikes in Syria against the Jabhat Fatah Al-Sham (formerly, al-Nusra Front) leader Abu Faraj al-Masri and that the military was assessing results of the operation.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On Monday, US Department of Defense spokesman Matthew Allen told Sputnik that the US Army was targeting a “prominent al-Qaeda member”.

Earlier reports emerged that a senior leader of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, formerly the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front, Abu Faraj Masri, died in a strike in Syria’s Idlib province.

On September 9, Lavrov and Kerry announced a new peace plan to address the conflict. The ceasefire deal was later shattered by numerous violations, which resulted in intensified fighting between the Syrian government and militants in Aleppo. The Syrian government later announced an end to the ceasefire regime, while Russia said that the United States failed to fulfil its obligation to separate terrorist groups from moderate opposition.

Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces loyal to President Bashar Assad fighting numerous opposition groups, as well as terrorist formations, such as Daesh, which is banned in many countries.