Extremist militants capture tens of Syrian soldiers in Idlib

Extremist groups captured tens of government soldiers in a northwestern city overran recently by the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and likeminded groups, a monitor group reported on Tuesday.

Several Islamist groups captured 100 people, including tens of soldiers and their families, from the city of Jisr al-Shughour and the nearby village of Ishtabraq in the northwestern province of Idlib, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The jihadist groups have captured the people since they overran the city on April 25, the UK-based watchdog group said, adding that clashes have been raging over the past three days between the jihadists and a group of the Syrian forces in the National Hospital of Jisr al-Shughour.

It said a group of the Syrian government forces infiltrated the hospital area to aid their besieged comrades in that part of the city, adding that the Nusra fighters are working on capturing the Syrian soldiers and the officers at the National Hospital alive.

On Saturday, the Nusra fighters and affiliated militants overran the Jisr al-Shughour city in the countryside of Idlib, near the Turkish borders. The capture of this city comes less than a month since the same extremist groups seized control of the provincial capital of Idlib.

Local media said the militants were streaming in droves into the city from the Turkish territory, amid fresh reports that the Syrian army has started a counter-offensive for the recapture of that key area.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday accused Turkey of supporting the rebels who stormed Jisr al-Shughour and other areas in northern Syria.

It said the Turkish army backed the extremist militants with a fire cover and logistic support, deeming such support a "direct aggression from Turkey against Syria and a new evidence on the Turkish involvement in supporting terrorism and encroaching upon the Syrian sovereignty." Enditem