On Thursday last week, a senior commander of the Syrian Jihad was martyred in an attack carried out by ISIS-Khawarij in Idlib province of Syria.
Reports indicate that an ISIS suicide bomber infiltrated al-Qahtani’s residence in the town of Sarmada in Idlib province late in the evening, detonating explosives. As a result of the explosion, Abu Maria Al-Qahtani himself, along with several companions, was killed.
Abu Maria al-Qahtani, whose real name was Maysar Ali Musa Abdullah al-Juburi and originally from Mosul, Iraq, was a key figure in the establishment of al-Nusra Front. He was known for his strong opposition to ISIS-Khawarij and was also sought after by the regime of Bashar al-Assad and its supporters.
While the Daesh-e- Khawarijs have not yet officially claimed responsibility for al-Qahtani’s assassination, supporters of ISIS on social media platforms have expressed joy over his death, attributing it to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in an attempt to sow discord.