Russia says its airstrikes wounded al Qaida leader in Syria

FILE: Konashenkov giving a briefing in 2015. (Photo By Mil.ru, CC BY 4.0)

MOSCOW — Russia’s military says it has carried out airstrikes in Syria that critically wounded the leader of an al-Qaida-linked group and killed 12 other militant commanders.

Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian Defence Ministry, said in a statement on Wednesday that the airstrikes wounded Abu Mohammed al-Golani, leader of the al-Qaida-linked Levant Liberation Committee.

He says the strikes took place on Tuesday at an undisclosed location in Syria.

Konashenkov says 50 other militants who were securing the gathering were also killed.

There was no immediate comment from the militant group.

Moscow has blamed the al-Qaida-linked group for attacking Russian military police in Syria’s western Hama province last week.