The head of the Syrian cell of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), Abu Abdallah al-Libi, was killed in the Syrian province of Idlib on Sunday, September 22. This was reported by AFP with reference to the human rights organization Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

According to human rights activists, thirteen members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, including the commander of the Syrian branch of the group, were killed near the city of Khazano during clashes with a group of Syrian rebels.

These data were confirmed by ISIS opponents from the Free Syrian Army (FSA). At the same time, as Al Arabiya reports, the rebels deny their involvement in the murder of al-Libi, who, according to the TV channel, headed the group’s cell in not only Syria, but also Iraq.

Most of Idlib province, located in northwestern Syria, is under the control of the Syrian opposition. In September, clashes between al-Qaeda-linked Islamists from ISIS and rebels from the pro-Western FSA became more frequent in Syria, driven by ideological differences. However, on September 20 it was reported that after several days of fierce fighting for the city of Azzaz near the Turkish border, the parties had concluded a truce.

The civil war, which began after the suppression of protests by opponents of President Bashar al-Assad, has continued in Syria since the spring of 2011. According to the UN, more than 100 thousand people were killed in the country during the conflict, and more than two million people were forced to become refugees.

Leader of Syrian radical Islamists killed