Dozens dead as Syria army battles Nusra near Aleppo

Fighting between Syrian regime forces and al-Qaeda-affiliated fighters has left more than 70 dead on Friday, as the UN presses for an inquiry into Thursday's attack on a refugee camp.

MENA

3 min read

The New Arab & agencies

06 May, 2016

Syrian opponents clash with Assad regime forces in the Khan Tuman town of Aleppo [Getty]

Fighting between Syrian regime forces and the local branch of al-Qaeda and its allies has left more than 70 dead south of the battleground city of Aleppo.

The Nusra Front and allied Islamists seized Khan Tuman and surrounding villages after less than 24 hours of clashes, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"At least 43 al-Nusra and allied fighters, including a local commander, and 30 on the side of the regime and allied militia were killed in the battle," said the UK-based Observatory, which relies on a network of sources in Syria.

Regime-allied troops had driven the extremists out of Khan Tuman, about 10 kilometres (six miles) southwest of Aleppo, in December.

"The recapture of the area and surrounding villages means that the regime's lines of defence south of the country's second city have been pushed back," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

'War crime'

The battle follows an attack on a camp for displaced people in northern Syria near the Turkish border on Thursday, which Stephen O'Brien, the UN humanitarian affairs chief, said could amount to a war crime, as he called for an inquiry.

A member of the civil defence force known as the White Helmets told The New Arab: "Around 30 people, mostly women and children, were killed and another 30 others were injured in three airstrikes carried out by Syrian regime warplanes on the Kammouna displaced camp near Sarmada" in the Idlib province.

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The rescue worker said fatalities were likely to increase due to the high number of casualties with critical injuries.

Most of the camp's displaced residents have fled the area fearing renewed airstrikes, according to the rescue worker.

Mamun al-Khatib, director of the Aleppo-based pro-rebel Shahba Press news agency, said two regime aircraft fired a total of four missiles in the attack.

"Two missiles fell near the camp causing people to panic and two more fell inside where a dozen tents caught fire," said Khatib.

Images shared online by activists showed emergency workers putting out fires among damaged blue and white tents.

Khatib said the people in the camp had fled fighting in the north of Aleppo province, where two weeks of airstrikes and shelling has killed more than 200 people.

Syria's military denied any involvement in Thursday's strikes.

"There is no truth in the information in some media that the Syrian air force targeted the displaced camp in Idlib province," the SANA news agency quoted the military as saying. It accused rebels of targeting civilians.

The attack comes a day after the extension of a 48-hour truce was confirmed.