- City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
- Dubai 04:06 05:29 12:18 15:42 19:02 20:25
Free Syrian Army fighters point at what they say was an overhead jet belonging to the Syrian regime in Al-Sukhna in Homs province. (REUTERS)
One of the most senior commanders of the rebel Free Syrian Army was killed on Monday during clashes with government troops near the southern city of Deraa on the border with Jordan, insurgents and state media said.
Yasser al-Aboud, a former Syrian army officer who defected in the early days of the revolt, was leading an assault on army checkpoints in the town of Tafas, northwest of Deraa, they added.
"The commander Aboud was martyred as he was leading a group of rebels against regime's forces," said Abu Hamza from the rebel Falujat Huaran brigade that was involved in the clashes.
Aboud was a founding member of the Western-backed Free Syrian Army's military council in southern Syria, which groups moderate brigades and has said it is worried about the growing role of Islamist insurgents in the conflict.
The Syrian army controls most of Deraa, the cradle of the 2-1/2-year uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
But rebels have gained territory in the city's old quarter and surrounding rural areas in recent months.
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