Int'l alliance strikes al-Qaida affiliates in northern Syria, killing 9

At least nine militants of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front were killed Sunday when the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition struck their positions in Syria's northwestern province, a monitoring group reported.

The airstrikes targeted the Nusra Front's positions in the vicinity of the border town of Atamah, west of Idlib province, close to the Turkish borders, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Four of those killed were non-Syrians, said the observatory, adding that one civilian is believed to have been killed as well.

It noted that the death toll of the Nusra militants would likely rise as many of the militants' bodies were buried under the rubbles.

Separately, the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said armed men attacked a big base of the Nusra Front in the town of Hafsarjeh, also west of Idlib, spelling no further details.

The Nusra Front has recently been engaged in battles against the Hazm Movement, a group of Western-backed rebels floated as "moderates" in Idlib.

Under the heavy blows of the Nusra, Hazm had disbanded and its militants joined other rebel groups in the area.

Hazm was supported by the U.S. with BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles and the Sunday attack by the unidentified gunmen could be a retaliation by some militants of that disbanded group. Endit