A high ranking militant commander was killed in northwestern Syria on Monday, July 9, rebel activists reported from the Idlib Governorate, Al-Masdar News reports.

According to the opposition activists, a group of unknown assailants killed a high ranking commander of Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham in the western countryside of the Idlib Governorate on Monday.

The Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham commander was identified as Abu Hussein Khattab; he was killed alongside his bodyguard in the town of Ableen, which is located inside the Jabal Al-Zawiyah region of Idlib.

The latest assassination comes just a day after an Islamic State (IS) sleeper cell killed ten elite fighters from Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham in northern Syria.

No group has yet to claim responsibility for the latest assassination; however, opposition activists have accused the Islamic State of carrying out this deadly attack.

Islamic State sleeper cells have been highly active in the Idlib Governorate as of late, prompting Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham and their allies from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) to crackdown on these enemy combatants around the province.

While IS does not have any territorial presence in northwest Syria, they do have several sleeper cells that are used to wreak havoc on other militant groups and their allies.