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The leader of one of the most powerful Syrian armed extremist groups is believed to have been killed in an air raid after information leaked by the Kingdom of Jordan.

The prominent leader, Zahran Alloush, was killed in an air strike near the Syrian capital on Friday in what is seen as a major blow to the terrorist groups.

Sources told al-Akhbar Lebanese newspaper that Jordan explicitly told Alloush they are not ready to facilitate his travel this time due to new developments on the international level, (unlike all previous times when Jordan would in fact provide a safe route for Zahran and his allies).

The source assured that “information assures the involvement of the Jordanian intelligence in the assassination of Alloush,” pointing out that Jordan leaked information to the Syrian-Russian alliance and paved the way for the operation.

Alloush, the head of the powerful extremist faction Jaysh al-Islam (The Islam Army) who had studied Islamic law in Saudi Arabia, was reported to have been killed when warplanes fired missiles at the headquarters of one of the group’s headquarters in al-Marj area in eastern Ghouta region.

He was instantly killed along with a number of commanders from the armed so-called opposition factions of Ahrar al-Sham and the Faylaq al-Rahman groups.

Alloush, in his mid-40s, was widely known to be backed by Saudi Arabia and Turkey. He was considered as one of the most powerful extremist commanders with thousands of fighters controlling large parts of the eastern Damascus suburbs of Eastern Ghouta and Douma.

In addition to fighting government forces, the Jaysh al-Islam faction fought battles against its rival, the ISIL group near Damascus.

Earlier this year, Alloush and his fighters forced some Syrian civilians whom his group was holding into cages that were then displayed in public areas and markets, using them as human shields to try to prevent further airstrikes.

Jaysh al-Islam is a coalition of extremist fighters of Wahhabi and Salafist ideology, with units including thousands of trained militants. It is mainly headquartered in the Damascus neighborhoods of Eastern Ghouta and Douma, where it controls large territories.

Several media outlets reported that critics accused Jaysh al-Islam of methods comparable to those of ISIL militants, as it reportedly resorts to the same inhumane methods used by the terrorist group, including public executions of prisoners.

Alloush had called for the cleansing of different religious groups opposing the doctrine of Jaysh al-Islam in various ISIL-like propaganda videos posted on YouTube.

Meanwhile, the group appointed Abo Humam al-Buwaydani to succeed its top commander Alloush.

Abo Humam al-Buwaydani was born in Duma in 1975. He owned a supermarket before the breakout of the crisis in Syria. It was also reported that he had a shop for Damascene sweets in Duma facing his residence. He was also known for travelling a lot for trade purposes.

According to al-Ahed news website, the newly appointed commander has a long criminal record and is wanted (under the 138129 arrest warrant issued in 2014 by the General Directorate of Intelligence). Al-Buwaydani is considered one of the distinguished top militants in the so-called Jaysh al-Islam. He was previously in charge of the "Bilal bin Ruhollah" Battalion, and then led the "Liwaa' al-Ansar", and the "army's operations" in Eastern Ghouta.