Al Nusrah Front claims another suicide attack in Syria

The Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, has claimed credit for a suicide attack at the “al-Nahel checkpoint in the city of al-Suqaylabiyah in the countryside of Hama” that took place on Feb. 12, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which obtained and translated the statement. Photographs of the suicide bomber, the truck, and the attack were also released with the written statement.

The Al Nusrah Front said the attack was executed by the “martyrdom-seeking brother Abu Yaqub al Ansari,” who struck a convoy military vehicles “while they were at a fuel station.” The terror group claimed that the attack “killed more than 150 [thugs] including an officer with the rank of Brigadier General, and wounded more than 100, and destroyed more than 10 cars.” The death toll cannot be confirmed; although the Al Nusrah Front’s claims of casualties for their attacks are often accurate, on occasion they are exaggerated.

The Al Nusrah Front has now claimed credit for 53 of the 63 suicide attacks that have taken place in Syria since December 2011, according to a tally by The Long War Journal (note that multiple suicide bombers deployed in a single operation are counted as part of a single attack). So far this year, 11 suicide attacks have been reported in Syria; Al Nusrah has claimed credit for 10 of them.

For more information on the Syrian terror group, which is al Qaeda in Iraq’s affiliate, see LWJ report, Al Nusrah Front claims suicide attack on Syrian defense factory.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

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Tags: Al Nusrah Front, Al Qaeda in Iraq, Syria