Airstrikes Target Nusra Front Building in North Syria, Killing 30 Fighters

Nusra Blames US-Led Coalition for Attack

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported a major series of airstrikes against a building belonging to al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front in the northern Syrian Idlib Province, reporting at least 30 fighters were within at the time of the attack. The observatory said they were uncertain who carried out the attack.

Nusra is a popular target, both for the Syrian military and Russia. Nusra officials, however, accused the US-led coalition of carrying out today’s strike, describing the building as their “headquarters” in that part of the province.

It would be unusual for the US to target Nusra, despite the group being directly linked with al-Qaeda. The US has been presenting Nusra as “moderates” for months, mostly opposing the idea of Nusra being chased out of Aleppo by the Syrian military.

Nuisra and the other rebels do seriously resent the US, however, presenting their loss of Aleppo as a “betrayal” by the US, who they apparently were counting on to keep the Syrian military from overrunning their half of the city. This may have them keen to blame the US, whether or not they ultimately were involved in this latest strike.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.