Violent explosions were heard in the northern countryside of Idlib and western Aleppo on Friday evening, amid information indicating that they were caused by airstrikes carried out by international coalition forces.
Local sources and Syrian activists reported that one of the raids targeted a person on a motorcycle on the road connecting the towns of Mashhad Ruhin and Deir Hassan, killing the person instantly, while other sources reported that people suspected of belonging to jihadist organizations active in the area were targeted.
The sources reported that two other explosions occurred that are likely caused by drone strikes of the international coalition, which targeted cars in the area of Jabal al-Sheikh Barakat in the western countryside of Aleppo.
Later, the sources said that after midnight on Friday, coalition aircraft carried out new raids targeting a headquarters that previously belonged to Turkistan fighters, which is now empty, in the Zainiyah area in the countryside of Jisr al-Shughour, west of Idlib, amid initial reports that a leader of the previously dissolved "Hurras al-Din" organization was killed.
Activists circulated unconfirmed information about the targeting of Jordanian Sami al-Uraydi, known as "Abu Mahmoud al-Shami", one of the most prominent legitimate leaders of the al-Qaeda-linked "Hurras al-Din" organization, along with a number of his companions.
The US Central Command has not issued any official statement about the operation, nor has any independent body confirmed the fate of al-Uraydi or the identity of those likely killed in the strike.
Who is Sami Al-Aridi?
Born in Amman, Jordan, in 1973, Sami Mahmoud al-Uraydi is one of the most prominent legal theorists affiliated with the Salafi-jihadist movement over the past two decades.
Al-Uraydi earned a doctorate in hadith from the University of Jordan, before his name rose to prominence in jihadist circles as one of the most prominent sharis linked to al-Qaeda in Syria.
Al-Uraydi stood out especially after the outbreak of the Syrian revolution, as he assumed the position of the general legal official of the Al-Nusra Front, and was seen for years as one of the most prominent religious authorities within the organization and the second most important legitimate figure in the organization after the top leadership.
His career witnessed a turning point in 2016 when he opposed the disengagement between Jabhat al-Nusra and al-Qaeda, and the dispute led to al-Uraydi and a number of pro-al-Qaeda leaders leaving the group, before later participating in the establishment of the "Hurras al-Din" organization, and he became a member of the "Hurras al-Din" Shura Council, and played a pivotal role in the formulation of its legal literature and statements.
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