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MOSCOW, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Strikes launched Tuesday from Russia's aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov killed a commander of a Syria-based radical group, said the Russian Defense Ministry on Thursday.
Abul Baha Al-Asfari, a field commander of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, also known as al-Nusra Front, was killed along with at least 30 militants in Idlib province, according to Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman of the Russian Defense Ministry.
Al-Asfari was responsible for regrouping elements of the Salafist jihadist terrorist group in the provinces of Aleppo and Hama, and for planning and carrying out numerous attacks on Aleppo, said Konashenkov.
Tuesday's airstrikes were carried out by SU-33 jets based on Admiral Kuznetsov, the first time the aircraft carrier was involved in battle action on the coastal areas of Syria.
