Free Syrian Army commander missing in Turkey: report

ISTANBUL

An image captured from a Youtube video shows Riad al-Asaad.

The top commander of the so-called Free Syrian Army Riad al-Asaad went missing in Turkey almost 10 days ago, according to Iranian media reports.

The report, which surfaced on Iran’s Al-Alam, said the news was announced by the commander’s family. Asaad was reportedly about to have a meeting with another rebel commander Salim İdris and a Lebanese deputy, Oqab Saqr, before he disappeared.

Iranian websites claimed the Turkish government or competitive rebel groups may have been responsible for Asaad’s disappearance.

Asaad left the regime’s army in 2011 and joined the rebel ranks. Previous reports claimed Asaad received treatment in Turkey last March and even had a leg amputated during his time in the hospital.

Khaled Khoja, the SNC’s Turkey representative, told the Hürriyet Daily News that he learned from several social media websites that the commander has been missing for about 10 days. Khoja confirmed that the commander lost a leg when he survived an assassination attempt about five months ago in Deir ez-Zor.

Khoja said the commander was attempting to form his own brigade against the Assad forces and parted ways with the main commanding order of the FSA.