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The 听of a prominent Syrian rebel militia, in a government airstrike has dealt the opposition movement a serious blow and could threaten the rebellion's tenuous hold on Aleppo, Syria's second largest city.

Mr. Saleh, known by his nom de guerre Hajji Marea, was the head of the Liwa al-Tawhid (Tawhid Brigade), which unified several armed groups in听2012听around Aleppo and led to seize control of several of its suburbs. Though only in his early thirties and having joined the uprising following a peacetime life as a seed merchant, Saleh quickly emerged as a respected figure, The New York Times听听in February 2013. His death last week, from injuries sustained during a government airstrike, leaves a power vacuum in the Aleppo area that will be challenging for the rebels to fill.听

Under Saleh鈥檚 leadership, Tawhid's ranks expanded to between and fighters. It once fought under the authority of the Free Syrian Army, but broke away in September to join an ,听including one closely linked to Al Qaeda and on the US government's lists of designated terrorist organizations. Although devout, Saleh himself had for postwar Syria, and he was able to create a diverse list of allies with his pragmatic approach and strategic acumen, according to the New York Times.

In a detailed profile of Saleh last winter, The New York Times correspondent as one of the movement鈥檚 few credible leaders, a standout figure in a patchy coalition defined by suspicion and confusion:

While Western governments have long worried that [the rebel movement鈥檚] self-declared leaders, many of whom operate from Turkey, cannot jell into a coherent movement with unifying leaders, the fighting across the country has been producing a crop of field commanders who stand to assume just these roles.

These men 鈥� with inside connections, street credibility and revolutionary narratives that many of the Western-recognized leadership lacks 鈥� have taken the reins of the war. They hold the weapons. They have their own international relations and financing.听Should they survive, many of them could become Syria鈥檚 postwar power brokers.听

One American official called Mr. Saleh 鈥渢he real thing鈥� 鈥� a commander with thousands of fighters, independent sources of financing and supply, good relations with other fighting groups and a record of tactical success.

Saleh鈥檚 death raises doubts about the Tawhid Brigade hanging together as a militia. A splintering of the group could have dangerous repercussions for the rebels in the long-running battle for Aleppo, where government forces are now on the offensive.

As the war鈥檚 tide has turned in President Bashar al-Assad鈥檚 favor in recent months, his army has retaken parts of the city and reestablished control over its airport. Government forces have also seized several opposition-held suburbs of Damascus, and moved to cut the opposition鈥檚 supply routes around the country. The airstrike that killed Saleh and several other top-level rebel figures, was part of a campaign to quash the rebels鈥� hold on Aleppo, .听

鈥淎s an individual, [Saleh] was very, very important, certainly in the Aleppo area, but increasingly as an individual that many in Syria felt represented the revolution,鈥� Charles Lister, an analyst at IHS Jane鈥檚 Terrorism and Insurgency Centre .

Passions fueled by Saleh鈥檚 death could deepen the fighters鈥� resolution to close ranks, Lister said. While it was 鈥渁 very significant blow鈥� to their movement, it could 鈥渟pur on the rebels to launch a counterattack as the regime advances.鈥�

But it could also mark another ominous setback on the road to further splintering of the movement, other analysts suggested.

鈥淎t a time when the Syrian regime is advancing on Aleppo, Saleh鈥檚 death therefore is very bad news for the opposition,鈥澨� Aron Lund,听an independent Syria expert, . 鈥淓ven if the front holds, Tawhid could be drained of cohesion, and end up losing sub-units and fighters to other groups.鈥澨�