BEIRUT – The head of Syria’s Special Forces has died from injuries sustained in the fierce fighting between regime troops and rebels in the northwestern Idlib province.

“A funeral service was held in Syria’s Tartous Governorate on Thursday for the commander of the Syrian Special Forces, Major General Muhyiddin Mansour,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

According to the Observatory, Mansour died after “being injured in clashes with Islamist factions and the Al-Nusra Front in Idlib [province’s] Jisr al-Shughur.”

The top Syrian general’s death comes amid the major military campaign launched by the Army of Conquest rebel coalition in the area.

On April 25, the wide ranging offensive saw allied armed opposition groups seize the town of Jisr al-Shughur, which lies on the highway linking Idlib to Latakia.

The circumstances of Mansour’s fate remain shrouded in mystery, with a number of contradictory reports emerging on the location and date of his death.

The pro-opposition All4Syria news cited sources as saying that Mansour was killed in the Jisr al-Shughur National hospital, where hundreds of regime fighters and figures have holed themselves up following the fall of the town.

Rebels have conducted a number of fierce attacks on the facility, which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad vowed to rescue in a rare public appearance on May 6.

All4Syria added that other sources claimed Mansour was killed in the fighting raging outside the hospital.

Dozens have been killed in the fighting around the hospital, where the beseiged regime troops have managed to turn back the rebel attacks.

The date on which Mansour was killed has also been a subject of controversy—although some pro-regime sources announced his death on Wednesday, some media outlets claim he was killed two weeks ago.

Sources told All4Syria that around one year ago Mansour was transferred, along with most members of the Syrian Army’s 15th Special Forces division, from its permanent headquarters in the Daraa Governorate to the city of Idlib and its surroundings.

Syrian ARA News described Mansour as “one of the top ranked and [most] experienced leading commanders” in the Syrian army.

Syria's Special Forces, which consists of the 14th and 15th divisions of the army as well as a number of seperate regiments, acts as light infantry fighting force made up of approximately 9000 troops.

Mansour hails from the town of Safita, some 25 km to the west of Tartous.

So far, there has been no official Syrian government statement regarding his death.