The airstrike was carried out on a location in Eastern Ghouta, a rural suburb of eastern Damascus. According to reports, al-Boudhani left the meeting only ten minutes before the attack, and his whereabouts are unknown.
"The Syrian Air Force was informed by army intelligence units about the exact place of the meeting between al-Boudani, also known as Abu Hamam, and the senior commanders of the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front in one of the farms in Eastern Ghouta near Haza town," sources told Fars, adding that the airstrike has killed several al-Nusra commanders.
Essam al-Boudhani became the new leader of the Jaysh-al Islam militant Islamic group after its previous leader Zahran Alloush and five other commanders were killed by a Syrian airstrike on December 25 in Eastern Ghouta.