The Al Nusra Front for the People of the Levant, one of two al Qaeda branches fighting in Syria, recently teamed up with the Yarmouk Brigade of the Free Syrian Army to capture the Ramtha military post on the border with Jordan after four days of fighting, according to several reports.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 26 government soldiers and a number of rebels were killed in Saturday’s battle for border crossing on the outskirts of the southern city of Deraa.
The Yarmouk Brigade, the Al Nusra Front and the Aknaf Bait al Maqdis (Defenders of Jerusalem), another al Qaeda-linked group that operates in Daraa, began the final push to take control of the border crossing last week, the Long War Journal reported.
A rebel military commander told Al Hayat that the Al Nusra Front and the Aknaf Bait al Maqdis “played an essential role in the storming of the crossing through coordinated efforts with the south Syria command center that is controlled by factions affiliated with the FSA.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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