The violent group started the attack on August 5 morning when three suicide bombers targeted pro-regime checkpoints at entrances to the city, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
"IS [ISIL] seized Al-Qaryatain town in the southeastern countryside of Homs after violent clashes with pro-regime forces and loyalist fighters," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
A total of 37 regime soldiers and loyalist fighters were killed, while 23 ISIL fighters also died, Abdel Rahman said.
He said the town held strategic importance because of its location along a road linking the ancient city of Palmyra, which has been held by ISIL militants since May, with Qalamun region in Damascus province.
"The control of Al-Qaryatain allows IS to link the areas under its control in the eastern countryside of Homs with the areas under its control in the eastern countryside of Qalamun, and allows it to transfer fighters and supplies between the two regions," Abdel Rahman said.
The ongoing clashes between government troops and the jihadist group are one of many fronts in Syria's complex war, which has left more than 230,000 people dead since it began in March 2011.
AFP
hurriyetdailynews.com
6/8/15
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A group of U.S.-trained Syrian rebels have declared their refusal to fight al-Qaeda’s affiliate in the country, the Nusra Front, following a series of kidnappings by the militant group, The Guardian reported on Thursday...
ReplyDeleteCiting a source in Division 30, a group believed to have been trained by U.S.-backed forces, the British newspaper said the rebels also oppose U.S. airstrikes against al-Nusra Front.
In late July, al-Nusra Front vowed to cut off “the arms” of the American government in Syria when they attacked headquarters of Division 30, killing at least five fighters.
Al-Nusra Front detained the rebel group’s commander Col. Nadim al-Hassan along with six others last week.
Meanwhile, al-Nusra Front continued its campaign against the U.S.-backed rebel unit this week, with the UK-based monitoring network, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, saying al-Qaeda’s affiliate kidnapped five more members of Division 30.
A source in the U.S.-backed group said those captured were families of the fighters.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon also said members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) who went through the new U.S. training program to fight Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants have been captured by al-Nusra Front.
Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said the military is monitoring the situation but details are sketchy.
alarabiya.net
7/8/15