A key commander of the U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army was killed recently by Syria’s al-Qaeda rebels, a sign the opposition to the Bashar al-Assad regime is fracturing and Islamist rebels are on the rise.
Kamal Hamami, the FSA commander, was killed as he went to a meeting of al-Qaeda-backed rebels to discuss joint operations against the Syrian army, a U.S. official said, confirming Middle East press reports.
Hamami had opposed the al-Qaeda-linked rebels and said there was no place for them within the opposition forces.
He was killed in Latakia province, in the northern part of the country near the Turkish border, a known stronghold of Islamist rebels.