Hamas security said on Saturday that the leader of an al-Qaida-inspired group in the Gaza Strip was killed in a fierce gun battle.
A Hamas security official said Saturday morning that Abdel-Latif Moussa, the leader of Jund Ansar Allah was killed by an explosion while fighting Hamas forces in the southern Gaza town of Rafah.
He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
The fighting began Friday when Hamas forces surrounded a mosque where about 100 members of the radical group were holed up.
Gaza medical officials said 16 people were killed and over 150 wounded in the fighting. Jund Ansar Allah seek to enforce an even stricter version of Islamic law than that advocated by Hamas.
