Syrian army ambush kills 62 'al-Qaida-linked' rebels east of Damascus
Assad regime claims those killed, including some foreigners, belonged to al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front.
By REUTERSIslamist Nusra Front fighter in Syria 370(photo credit: REUTERS)
BEIRUT - Sixty-two rebel fighters were killed in a Syrian army ambush at dawn on Wednesday near the town of Adra, east of Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group opposed to President Bashar Assad, said.The state news agency SANA did not give a death toll for the ambush but said the rebels were from the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front. It said all the rebels were killed and machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades confiscated.SANA said the "terrorists" included non-Syrians and the Observatory said that eight rebels were still unaccounted for after the attack, which happened west of an industrial area east of Adra.Assad's forces have been on the offensive around Damascus after rebels pushed into towns and suburbs on the outskirts of the capital last year. Adra is in the Eastern Ghouta region, which has been besieged by the army for months.More than 100,000 people have died in Syria's civil war and millions have been displaced. Protesters took to the streets in March 2011 to call for democratic reforms but were fired on by security forces, leading to an armed uprising.The army has made efforts to secure the capital and its links to the western coast while the rebels have overrun much of the north and east.Click for full JPost coverage
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