Blast in Syria kills top al Qaeda commander: insurgent sources

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A blast targeting senior members of al Qaeda's official Syrian wing, the Nusra Front, killed the group's General Military Commander Abu Humam al-Shami on Thursday, two insurgent sources told Reuters. Al-Shami is one of the most senior Nusra Front figures to be killed since it formed in 2012 and has fought in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, the sources said. They said the explosion was caused by a U.S.-led coalition air strike that hit a high-level Nusra Front meeting in the northwestern province of Idlib. (Reporting by Mariam Karouny; editing by Ralph Boulton)