Syrian rebels execute 56 government soldiers

BEIRUT Syrian Islamist rebels led by the country’s al-Qaida branch executed 56 captured government soldiers, a monitoring group said Saturday, and the rebels claimed advances on a besieged Shiite village in northwest Syria.

The soldiers were shot to death at the Abu al-Duhur air base in Idlib province near the Turkish border, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The airport the last government military base in the northwestern province fell on Sept. 9 to an alliance called Jaish al-Fath, led by Syrian the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front and the hard-line Islamist Ahrar al-Sham movement.

The rebel alliance has now executed 71 soldiers at the base, according to the Britain-based observatory, which monitors the Syrian conflict through a network of opposition activists in the country.

Fierce fighting continued between Jaish al-Fath and pro-government militias backed by the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah in two besieged Shiite villages in the province.

A former aide of Osama bin Laden, named as Abu al-Hassan al-Tunisi, was killed during fighting on the outskirts of Fouaa and neighbouring Kafraya, according to the observatory.

Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime has battled a range of rebel forces, as well as the Islamic State group, since mass protests against his rule descended into civil war in 2011.

Russia said last week that it had been sending military equipment to the Syrian government to fight terrorism, specifically Islamic State, which has gained significant territory since early 2014 in both Syria and Iraq.

Russia, a staunch ally of Assad, said Friday it was ready to consider sending troops to Syria if Damascus asks.

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