BEIRUT // Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate Jabhat Al Nusra launched an offensive early Friday on the headquarters of a new US-formed rebel group in the country’s north, a monitoring group said. At least 11 militants and rebels were killed in the assault.
Following the attack near the town of Azaz, north of Aleppo, warplanes believed to be part of the US-led anti-ISIL coalition struck Al Nusra positions in the area.
It came one day after Al Nusra kidnapped eight rebels from Division 30, who had been trained and equipped by Washington, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
“Al Nusra attacked at dawn the headquarters of Division 30, near the town of Azaz in the northern province of Aleppo,” the Britain-based Observatory said.
Clashes broke out after the assault that killed five Al Nusra fighters and allied militants, as well as six US-trained rebels who were defending Division 30, said the Observatory’s director, Rami Abdel Rahman.
He said that Al Nusra launched the attack to seize weapons “given by Washington to the rebels” but that the group had not been able to enter the base as clashes continued during the day.
In a statement posted on its Facebook page about the attack, Division 30 called on Al Nusra to stop “spilling the blood of Muslims”.
At least 54 members of Division 30 entered Syria in mid-July, equipped with 30 American-made all-terrain vehicles, arms, and ammunition.
On Thursday, Al Nusra kidnapped eight of them – including a commander – from a village in the province of Aleppo, the Observatory said.
Division 30 denounced the kidnapping of Colonel Nadim Hassan and his companions, demanding that “the brothers of Al Nusra Front ... liberate them immediately”.
A spokeswoman for the US department of defence denied the kidnapping.
“I can confirm that there have been no New Syrian Force personnel captured or detained,” said commander Elisa Smith.
The “New Syrian Force” is the term used by Washington to describe Syrian rebels who have been screened to exclude extremist elements and passed a training course led by US troops.
Al Nusra, which Washington has designated a terrorist organisation, has a track record of crushing US-backed rebels in Syria.
Last year, the group routed the Syria Revolutionaries Front led by Jamal Maarouf, viewed as one of the most powerful insurgent leaders in Syria until his defeat.
* Agence France-Presse with additional reporting by Reuters