Al-Qaeda branch seizes opposition commander

Al Qaeda-linked fighters have abducted the leader of a U.S.-backed rebel group in north Syria, opposition sources and a monitoring group said, but the Pentagon cast doubt on the reports.

Yet Hassan’s contingent of 54 fighters, known as Division 30, released a statement Thursday claiming Nusra militants kidnapped rebels in the vicinity of Aleppo, in northern Syria.

The majority of Syrian rebel fighters who have completed training by the United States are from the Division 30 group.

While the Nusra Front shares two common enemies – the Islamic State and Syrian leader Bashar Assad – with the more mainstream rebel factions, the group falls under the umbrella of al Qaida, which opposes American involvement in the region.

The kidnapping, which occurred Wednesday night, came a few days after the U.S. and Turkey announced the outlines of a deal to help rebels push IS back from a strip of territory it controls along the Syrian-Turkish border, replacing it with more moderate rebels backed by Washington and Ankara.

The train-and-equip program has been plagued by problems since its launch, with U.S. lawmakers complaining about its slow pace. The program trains and equips Syrian fighters to combat the hardline Islamic State group.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the incident happened as the fighters were “returning from a meeting in the city of Azaz in northern Aleppo province to their headquarters”.

The clashes centered in the areas of Ghazl, Tel Mald, Oum Hosh and Soran Azaz, “during which heavy weapons and rocket launchers were used”, the Nusra source said.

Those questions may take some time to answer, but simply declaring plans for a safe zone could have immediate ramifications for Syrian civilians, hundreds of thousands of whom are located along the Turkish border and are desperately seeking shelter.

A U.S. military official said he did not know why Hassan had been captured.

In January, the Pentagon said about 5,400 Syrian rebels would be trained and armed in the first year of the programme. President Barack Obama recently voiced frustration with the program, saying, “I have made it clear to my team that we will do more to train and equip the moderate opposition in Syria”.