Russia Says Kills 7 Nusra Front Ringleaders in Syria Airstrike

Nusra Front severed ties with al Qaeda last year and rebranded to head the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham alliance.

Russia said on Wednesday it had critically injured a leader of the Tahrir al-Sham militant group, Abu Mohamad al-Golani, with an airstrike in Syria that also killed 12 of his field commanders, according to Reuters.

Golani is now in a coma, Russian news agencies cited Russia’s defense ministry as saying on Thursday.

Russia, along with Iran and local forces, has been assisting the Syrian government in its fight against the terrorist groups wreaking havoc in the Arab country since 2011.

Moscow has been conducting an anti-terrorist operation in Syria since September 30, 2015, at the behest of Syrian President Bashar Assad.