« | Main | »

Former Guantanamo detainee Ibrahim Bin Shakaran, a.k.a. Brahim Benchakroun or Abu Ahmad al Maghribi, was reportedly killed in Latakia while leading his Sham al Islam group. Fierce fighting continued near a strategic hilltop in Latakia between regime forces and rebels, including the Al Nusrah Front, Ansar al Sham, Sham al Islam, Junoud al Sham, the Islamic Front, and Moroccan fighters from the Shab al Islam. The head of the UN chemical weapons mission said the regime must move quickly to meet the April 27 deadline for removing its chemical weapons from the country; shipments were stopped on March 20 due to worsening security in Latakia. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham battled Kurdish YPG forces in Hasakah, conducted raids in Raqqah, and clashed with both regime forces and Kurdish fighters in Aleppo. State media said regime forces discovered a 200-meter tunnel leading toward the al-Majd suburb in Damascus.