A suicide bombing in Idlib killed Hassan Abboud, who is the head of Ahar al Sham and the Islamic Front’s political leader, along with more than a dozen other leaders among some 50 said to be attending a meeting. Influential al Qaeda leaders mourned the deaths; one said Abboud had been in direct contact with al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri. A military emir for the Al Nusrah Front was killed by regime forces during a clash in Hama. Al Nusrah and the Islamic Front continued to fight regime forces in Quneitra, and took over the al Mal hill as well as the town of Kafar Nasig on the border with Deraa. The head of the Fijian military claimed that the Al Nusrah Front told the UN that the 45 kidnapped Fijian peacekeepers will be released in a few days. The Islamic State battled regime forces near the airbase in Deir Izzour.
