BEIRUT: The new head of the Islamist group Ahrar Al Sham, once one of the strongest militias in the Syrian civil war, has urged fellow insurgents to fight on after a blast on Tuesday wiped out its senior leadership.
In a video on YouTube, Ahrar Al Sham said Hashem Al Sheikh, also known as “Abu Jaber”, had been named its new leader and Abu Saleh Tahan its new military chief. Another video showed a man identified as Abu Jaber exhorting his men to fight on.
The explosion in northwestern Syria killed at least 12 including Ahrar Al Sham’s former leader Hassan Aboud, said the group which is part of the Islamic Front alliance fighting both the Syrian army and the now dominant Islamic State movement.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group monitoring the conflict, said the blast killed 28 of Ahrar Al Sham’s commanders, dealing a major blow to the organisation. “Jihadi men of our nation ... do not let the crisis shake you or the calamity divide you,” Abu Jaber said on the video while eulogising the dead. “Rise, let us die for what they have died for,” he said in a statement read from behind a desk. REUTERS
