Alwaght-Zahran Alloush, head of the powerful Takfiri terrorist group calling itself Jaysh al-Islam or the Army of Islam, operating in the suburbs of Damascus, was killed in a Syrian air force strike, the military has confirmed.
The airstrike targeted the headquarters of Jaysh al-Islam, a coalition of different terrorist groups fighting against Syrian government forces.
"The Syrian air force has carried out airstrikes, following intelligence reports and assistance by respected citizens, targeting terrorist groups in the eastern suburb of Damascus. As a result, terrorist Zahran Alloush was killed," the Syrian army said in a statement.
Syria's General Command of the Army and Armed Forces confirmed that Alloush and several other leaders of terrorist organizations were killed in the air campaign against terrorist hideouts in the Damascus countryside of Eastern Ghouta.
The General Command said the operation followed "a series of surveillance and monitoring operations, based on accurate intelligence," Syria's official news agency, SANA, reported.
Jaysh al-Islam is a coalition of Takfiri terrorsit units mainly headquartered in the Damascus neighborhoods of Eastern Ghouta and Douma, where it controls large territories. The rebel group includes thousands of trained fighters and is seen as the biggest and the most organized.
Though it is not part of the Free Syrian Army, a big umbrella group of forces fighting against troops loyal to President Bashar Assad, the coalition still took part in the conference held by Saudi Arabia in early December, aimed at trying to agree a common position from which to negotiate with the current Syrian government.
Critics have accused Jaysh al-Islam of methods comparable to those of ISIS terrorist groups, as it reportedly resorts to the same inhumane methods used by the terrorist group, including public executions of prisoners.
Alloush has called for the cleansing of Alawites and Shiites in various ISIS-like propaganda videos posted on YouTube.
Meanwhile, Syrian forces have also seized control of major hilltops held by terrorists in the northwestern province of Latakia.