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Blast kills 31 rebels in Syria's Idlib

Xinhua, July 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

An explosion targeted a rebels' meeting in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, killing 31 of them, a monitor group reported Saturday.

The explosion targeted a mosque in the city of Ariha in the southern countryside of Idlib on Friday, while rebels of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and allied jihadi group were having Iftar, or breakfast meal of the holy month of Ramadan, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The UK-based watchdog group said the death toll is expected to rise as many of the wounded are in grave conditions.

The group, which relies on a network of activists on ground, said the party behind the explosion is still unknown.

Separately, the Jaish al-Fatah group, a coalition of several jihadi groups mainly the Nusra Front, executed eight people in Idlib on charges of being snitches for the Syrian government forces.

The Nusra Front and likeminded groups captured the city of Idlib on March 28 and followed their assault with other offensives that made them control much of the province countryside near Turkey. Endit