Prominent Islamic State (ISIS) jihadi and governor of Deir ez-Zor Abu Khadijah al-Masri was killed along with other ISIS members during clashes with Syrian army forces in eastern Syria, activists reported on Sunday.
Al-Masri, an Egyptian jihadi who joined ISIS ranks in 2014, was appointed by the group’s leadership as a Wali, or governor, for the ISIS-held Deir ez-Zor. He joined the military campaign in defence of the ISIS-held Syrian eastern province against regime army troops.
“More than 15 ISIS fighters were killed on Sunday, including al-Masri, in clashes with the Syrian army in the vicinity of Deir ez-Zor military airport,” media activist Salman Hammadi told ARA News in Deir ez-Zor.
Fierce clashes took place on Sunday in the Tharda district near the airbase. ISIS militants were forced to withdraw towards the city centre after the death and injury of dozens of the group’s fighters under shelling by the Syrian army.
After a failed attempt to storm the military airbase, ISIS militants launched two car bomb attacks on the regime-held neighbourhood of Sinaa east of the city Deir ez-Zor, killing at least four pro-regime forces and injuring others.
“Conduction the car bomb attacks came in response to the death of al-Masri and other fighters of the Islamic State near the Deir ez-Zor airbase,” a source close to ISIS told ARA News.
aranews.net
