Jihadist militants capture southern Syrian town

An array of jihadist groups captured a southern Syrian town Wednesday, following intense battles with Syrian government forces, a monitoring group reported.

The armed militant groups took control of the town of Busra al-Sham and its historic citadel in the countryside of the southern province of Daraa, following four days of violent battle with Syrian forces and allied fighters, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and other activist groups.

Twenty-one jihadist militants were killed in the intense battles, including one of their commanders, said the Observatory, adding that sounds of clashes can still be heard on the outskirts of the town, a major archaeological site declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site.

According to other activists, 3,000 militants participated in the offensive against Busra al-Sham, adding that the militants were equipped with a myriad of weapons, such as tanks, armored vehicles and rocket launchers.

Meanwhile, witnesses told Xinhua by phone that a mass exodus occurred over the past hours as the town is home to around 4,000 Shiite Muslims, who feared being killed by Sunni-led jihadists.

Those displaced sought refuge in the nearby province of Swaida, only 20 kilometers from Busra, and the Sayyidah Zaynab Shiite neighborhood south of Damascus.

The attack is considered a major achievement for the militants after Syrian troops backed by Shiite Lebanese Hezbollah unleashed a battle in Daraa and other areas against the jihadists, mainly the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front.

The capture of Busra al-Sham would pose a threat to nearby Swaida province, inhabited by Syrians from the Druze minority.

Syria's remarkable melange of sects has been largely threatened with the rise of extremist groups such as the Nusra Front and the Islamic State (IS) group, which have massacred minority groups in Syria and neighboring Iraq. Endit