Syrian troops kill 50 rebels in Idlib

At least 50 rebels were killed and 150 wounded Saturday in fresh clashes with the government troops in the northwestern province of Idlib, the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV reported.

Suqur al-Sham rebel group lost as many as 50 of its fighters during clashes in the countryside of Idlib, al-Mayadeen said, adding that a rebel commander was among those killed.

The state news agency SANA also reported the intense battles in different parts of Idilib, saying that units of the Syrian army intensified their shelling on Saturday on the rebels' positions after the rebel groups attempted to infiltrate military positions in Idilb.

Tens of the "terrorists" were killed in the Syrian troops' shelling, said SANA, adding that the battles have flared since dawn Saturday.

The al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and likeminded groups have recently intensified their attacks in Idlib in an attempt to consolidate their positions in that part of Syria, close to the Turkish borders.

The Nusra, furthermore, has also been engaged in battles against the rebels' Hazm Movement, a group comprising less radical rebels, in Idlib.

Following the attacks by Nusra on the Hazm Movement, the later threatened that it would abandon its positions for the Syrian army if the Nusra attacks persisted.

The ongoing battles nationwide come as representatives of the Syrian government and political opposition concluded their meetings in Moscow last Thursday.

They failed to achieve a breakthrough in the talks that supposedly aimed at paving the way for a broader conference to hammer out details of a possible political settlement to the country's long-running conflict. Endit