Senior ISIL And Al-Qaeda Commander Killed In Aleppo Battle

A senior ISIL commander is reported to have been killed by the Syrian army, with the help of Hezbollah and the Russian air force.

Adnan al-Atawi known as Abu Salim al-Tabouki was killed in a battle in the Eastern countryside of Aleppo province on Tuesday. He was a ranking commander of Al-Qaeda who took part in terrorist operations worldwide, including in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. In recent years he became a senior ISIL commander in Syria.

Fars News reports:

In 2011, al-Atawi was arrested by the Saudi authorities for his al-Qaeda connections, and sent to the Al-Salouliyah Prison. However, he was subsequently released, and defected from al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front to join the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group.

Al-Atawi had visited his family in Saudi Arabia several times over the last two years, despite his role in the terrorist group in Syria.

An ISIL member who has been under his command has confirmed his death after his body was retrieved from the battlefront near the Kuweires Military Airport.

Thousands of soldiers from the Syrian army, Hezbollah and popular forces, backed up by Russian air force, launched the final phase of a landmark operation towards a strategic airbase Southeast of Aleppo that has been under siege for two years now.

The Syrian army, National Defense Forces (NDF) and Hezbollah fighters backed up by Russian warplanes started the operation early Tuesday morning and have already come almost half a mile closer to the Kuweires airport in a region where advance in every inch has taken days.

The pro-government forces marched on ISIL positions in the region and advanced to the rural district of Sheikh Ahmad after taking full control of the railway crossing. Early reports from the battlefield said tens of Takfiri terrorists have been killed this morning.

The Syrian army and Hezbollah forces are now deployed in a region only 2 kilomteres away from the airbase.