Syria update: Fighters from Al-Nusra Front drive Western-backed rebels out of their bastion in Idlib province. Fighters from the al-Nusra Front group have driven the rebels of the Western-backed Syrian Revolutionary Front from their bastion in the northwestern province of Idlib after 24 hours of fighting. The defeat, in which some of the SRF fighters deserted and joined al-Nusra, will be a blow to US efforts to create and train a moderate rebel force as a counterweight to both self-declared jihadists and the Syrian government. Al-Nusra captured Deir Sinbel, and also now controls most of the other towns and villages in the Jabal al-Zawiya area, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. [The al-Nusra Front] seized SRF arms and tanks, and some of the rebels swore allegiance to al-Nusra, while others fled, the Britain-based organisation said. Western-backed rebel groups in Syria are coming under growing pressure as Assad forces continue to advance in the country’s west and south, while the self-declared jihadists make territorial gains in the east and north. The so-called moderate rebels complain of lack of credible military support from US and other allies. The SRF, backed by the West and various Arab countries, had earlier vowed to establish a democratic state in when and if President Bashar al-Assad was toppled. The group was formed at the end of 2013 as an alliance of moderate rebels organisations.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 13:19:06 +0000
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