BEIRUT: Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate and its allies seized on Saturday the city of Idlib, the second provincial capital lost by the government, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
After five days of fighting, “Al-Nusra Front and its allies have captured all of Idlib,” the Britain-based Observatory said.
Al-Nusra Front, the official Syrian affiliate of Al-Qaeda, announced the capture of the northwestern city on its Twitter accounts.
“Idlib has been liberated,” the militant group wrote on one account.
It posted photos showing its fighters in front of the governorate building, the city council, a local prison and a police station in the city.
The city’s fall comes on the fifth day of fighting between a coalition of Al-Nusra and various opposition allies and the regime.
More than 130 people have been killed in the fighting, according to the Observatory.
Militants capture Syria’s Idlib
Militants capture Syria’s Idlib
