BEIRUT: A Syrian jihadist group linked to Al-Qaeda killed 21 regime and allied forces Sunday near Idlib province, in one of the deadliest breaches of a six-month-old truce deal, a monitor said. “At dawn, 21 fighters from the regime forces or allied militia were killed in an attack by Ansar al-Tawhid jihadists,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. “Five jihadists were also killed,” Rami Abdel Rahman, the director of the Britain-based monitoring group, said. Ansar al-Tawhid has ties to the larger Hurras al-Deen group, which is also active in the area. Both are considered semi-officials franchises of Al-Qaeda in Syria. On the other hand, nearly 300 Syrians suspected of belonging to the Islamic State jihadist group have been freed because they have “no blood on their hands,” Kurdish authorities who were holding them said. Their release was announced late Saturday by the semi-autonomous Kurdish administration of northern Syria, which said in a statement that 283 Syrians had been set free.

AFP