DAMASCUS, June 16 (Xinhua) -- A suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest near a mosque in Syria's northern city of Idlib on Friday, killing a body guard of a key jihadi commander and other rebels as well, activists said.
The bomber set off his explosives in front of the Abi Thar mosque in the rebel-held city of Idlib, targeting the Saudi cleric Abdullah al-Muhaysini, a prominent religious figure of the Front for Liberating the Levant, otherwise known as the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, Idlib-based activists said.
The explosion killed one of the bodyguards of al-Muhaysini, and other jihadists. However, it's not yet clear whether al-Muhaysini was killed or not, amid reports that he might have escaped unscathed.
The attack is believed to have been carried out by rival jihadi groups, which want to see an end to the influence of the Nusra Front in Idlib.
The Nusra Front is designated as a terror group by the international community, and it has been excluded from all recent truces and agreements, including the de-escalation zones' deal struck last May.
Being branded as a terror group is what pushed other rebel groups to alienate the Nusra so that they could be part of any future settlement in Syria.
