A rebel fighter in the northern countryside of Hama in Syria in 2015. Cheg Cheg, who was killed in April, was the head of a complex network of weapons trading which supplied arms to rebel groups across Syria. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
A rebel fighter in the northern countryside of Hama in Syria in 2015. Cheg Cheg, who was killed in April, was the head of a complex network of weapons trading which supplied arms to rebel groups acrosShow more
Cheg Cheg rose to become a mafia-like kingpin in southern Syria, running a convoluted weapons smuggling network that linked rebel forces, western governments, ISIL and regime forces. But selling to everyone and anyone proved fatal to him, Phil Sands and Suha Maayeh, report.