Al-Qaeda fighters kidnap US-backed rebel chief in Syria

US-backed rebels on Sunday accuse Al-Qaeda-linked fighters of storming their headquarters in northwestern Syria and kidnapping their commander and dozens of other combatants.

In an online statement, Jaish al-Tahrir (Liberation Army) says its commander, Mohammad al-Ghabi, was abducted from his father’s home in the town of Kafranbel by Al-Nusra Front jihadists on Saturday evening.

It says Al-Nusra fighters also “kidnapped more than 40 members of Jaish al-Tahrir” and stole weapons from other bases and checkpoints set up in northwestern Syria.

“We call on Al-Nusra Front to immediately release our commander and all the others who were kidnapped,” the statement says, urging other Islamist groups to put pressure on the jihadists.

— AFP

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