Amru al-Abbasi, ISIL's top commander in Homs, was killed in the airstrikes on Friday afternoon.

Al-Abbasi was appointed as ISIL's Homs commander in 2014.

No one has yet taken the credit for killing the terrorist leader.

Targets in Homs usually come under daily attacks by the Russian fighter jets that take off from Hmeimim airbase in Lattakia, but the Syrian air force also bombs specified targets in Homs province every now and then.

In a relevant development earlier today, the Russian Air Force carried out a series of airstrikes over the ISIL positions in the Eastern part of Homs province and hit several targets, including the terrorist group's oil smuggling route to Turkey.

The Russian warplanes bombed the oil transport routes used by the ISIL near the ancient city of Palmyra (Tadmur) and al-Sakhanah; these roads flow through Raqqa and Aleppo provinces before reaching the Turkish border.

The Russian Air Force specifically struck the ISIL positions at the villages of Rasm Al-‘Arnab and Wadi- alAbyadh, destroying several oil supply trucks and a command-and-control center.

Also today, the Syrian army troops repelled ISIL's heavy attack on an oil-rich region in the Eastern part of Homs province and forced the terrorist group to pull forces back from the battlefield.

The ISIL attempts to prevail over the government forces' line of defense in Jazal oilfield was fended off by the Syrian soldiers.

The heavy fire of the Syrian army inflicted a heavy death toll on the terrorists and forced them to retreat.

Reports said earlier on Saturday that the Syrian army troops and their popular allies stormed the ISIL defense lines near the ancient Assyrian town of Quaryatayn and forced the militant group to pull forces back from more heights and hills; FNA reported.

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