Senior ’FSA’ Commander Killed in Deraa

Local Editor

A senior commander of the so-called "Free Syrian Army" was killed Monday during clashes with the Syrian Army near the southern city of Deraa on the border with Jordan, insurgents and state media said.

According to the information, Yasser al-Abboud was leading an assault on army checkpoints in the town of Tafas, northwest of Deraa.
"The commander Abboud was killed as he was leading a group of rebels against regime forces," said Abu Hamza from the Falujat Hawran Brigade, which was involved in the clashes.

Abboud was a founding member of the so-called "FSA" military council in southern Syria.
Better known by his nom-de-guerre Abu Ammar, the commander "headed the operations room in Daraa province," which borders Jordan.
State television also reported the death of the man, describing him as a "criminal, treacherous ... deserter."

Last month, pro-opposition activists circulated a YouTube video that showed Abboud during a meeting in Jordan, harshly criticizing representatives of the political opposition-in-exile to their faces.
In the six-minute video, Abboud offers blistering criticism of officials for failing to ask the militants about their needs, and receives no convincing answers as a few attempts are made, unsuccessfully, to stop him from speaking.
"Who among you has brought us water, or food, or even asked about us ... the least you can do is ask us, ‘What do you need?'" he says. "No one."
During his tense remarks, Abboud acknowledges that there are "bad people, and opportunists" in the ranks of the "FSA".

Abboud describes begging for assistance to get wounded fighters into Jordan for treatment, and accuses political operatives of caring for only their supporters, but not ordinary fighters "with no agenda."

"No one who's based outside the country represents us," Abboud says, highlighting the dilemma that has plagued Syria's opposition.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team