Former bin Laden aide killed in clashes

BEIRUT: A former lieutenant of the late al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden has been killed in fighting with pro-government militiamen in Syria, a monitor said Saturday.

"Abul Hassan al Tunsi, an important leader of the Al Nusra Front, was killed in clashes on Friday between extremist rebels and pro-government militia around the villages of Fuaa and Kafraya in Idlib province," said the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdel Rahman.

Tunsi, who was in his 60s, arrived in Syria in 2012, Abdel Rahman said. He was one of bin Laden's "assistants and fought in al Qaeda's ranks in Afghanistan and Iraq."

Fierce clashes and heavy shelling on the two villages continued on Saturday.

Fuaa, Kafraya and the rebel stronghold of Zabadani in Damascus province were at the centre of two failed attempts last month to secure broad ceasefire deals.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 20^th, 2015.