Syrian conflict: Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front ‘abduct leader of US-backed

On Wednesday, Islamic State group (IS/ISIS) targeted headquarters of al-Nusra Front (al-Qaeda branch in Syria) with a auto bomb attack in the northern countryside of Aleppo, pro-Nusra sources reported.

A statement released by the moderate opposition group armed and trained by the U.S. accused Jabhat al-Nusra of abducting group leader Nadim al-Hassan and a number of his companions.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group that often statistics upon the battle, said males were usually kidnapped while you are strolling back from an arrangement in Azaz, east of Aleppo, to assist endeavors by using other factions.

Other sources said the leaders of al-Nusra denied the kidnapping.

Even before this week’s abduction, U.S. officials admitted that one of the big challenges with the planned safe zone, stretching 40 kilometers inside Syria, is that al-Nusra and a hardline Islamist militia, Ahrar al-Sham, are strong in the area.

The “New Syrian Force” is the term used in Washington to describe Syrian rebels who have been screened to exclude extremist elements and passed a training course led by US troops.

The United States, as part of a congressionally authorized program, plans to train about 5,000 fighters in Turkey to combat the Islamic State. That program, though, has so far enlisted only 60 soldiers in Syria.

Washington and Ankara announced this week they would provide air cover for a select group of Syrian rebels in their plan to sweep Islamic State fighters from an earmarked zone along the border with Turkey inside northern Syria. Now, their fears may be about to come true.

The train-and-equip program has been plagued by problems since its launch, with U.S. lawmakers complaining about its slow pace.

The U.S. program to train and arm Syrian rebels was delayed because of “technical reasons”, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said this week.

The Nusra Front also seized some of the sophisticated antitank missiles the United States had provided to the groups, which were effectively dismantled. It indulges in trade for weapons, but does not rely heavily on ransom money from kidnappings.

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