Islamist militants storm government building in Idlib, north-west Syria

Al-Nusra Front fighters kill dozens of Assad’s troops and claim to cut supply route to Idlib city

The Guardian

Opposition forces now control most rural areas in north-west Syria's Idlib province. Photograph: Karam Almasri/NurPhoto/Rex

Islamist militants linked to al-Qaida stormed the government building in Idlib, northern Syria, on Monday and opened up a new front in a city that has been controlled by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces for more than a year, both sides said.

State television said the Nusra Front militants infiltrated Idlib at dawn and were confronted by troops and pro-government militias. The Nusra Front said its fighters killed dozens, including officers, in the attack. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebels from the Nusra Front and other groups shelled Idlib and simultaneously attacked army checkpoints there.

In 2012, other rebel groups, including the western-backed Free Syrian Army, briefly took control of parts of Idlib but were pushed out by the army.

Assad, fighting an array of insurgent groups, has lost much of north and east Syria but has secured a stretch of land from the capital, Damascus, in the south-west up towards Aleppo in the north-west.

In the past three months, the Nusra Front has made gains in these areas, in the southern provinces of Deraa and Quneitra, and now in north-west Idlib province.

Referring to Monday’s fighting, Nusra said on its social media account that its forces cut the supply route to Idlib city as well as seizing the government building. They also seized two tanks and captured 12 soldiers.

Syria is now beset by multiple conflicts since an uprising against Assad’s rule broke out in March 2011.

A U.S.-led coalition is bombing Isis, a splinter al-Qaida group that has fought Assad, the Nusra Front, Syrian Kurds and Sunni tribes.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Syrian air force had carried out 600 air strikes, including barrel-bomb drops from helicopters, during the past week. It said about 180 civilians, including more than 50 children, were killed in the attacks.