US Offers Combined $15Mln In Rewards For Information On Hurras Al-Din Leaders - State Dept

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th September, 2019) The United States is offering a combined reward of up to $15 million for information on three senior leaders of the Hurras al-Din terrorist group in Syria, the State Department said in a press release on Thursday.

"The US Department of State's Rewards for Justice Program is offering a reward of up to $5 million each for information leading to the identification of senior Hurras al-Din leaders Abu 'Abd al-Karim al-Masri, Faruq al-Suri, and Sami al-Uraydi," the release said.

The three senior Hurras al-Din leaders have been active in al-Qaeda (banned in Russia) for years and are loyal to the terrorist group's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, the State Department said.

The release noted that al-Masri is an Egyptian national who served as a mediator between Hurras al-Din and the Nusra Front terror group (banned in Russia).

Al-Suri is a Syrian national who fought in Afghanistan in the 1990s and trained al-Qaeda fighters in Iraq. Al-Uraydi is a Jordanian national who is a senior official for Hurras al-Din and previously was involved in plotting terrorist attacks against the United States and Israel.

The State Department on Wednesday added Hurras al-Din to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists and imposed sanctions on the group's leader, al-Suri, who also is a former commander of the Nusra Front terror group.

Hurras al-Din operates mostly in Syria's Idlib province, where they have carried out operations alongside groups such as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.