Syria in Last 24 Hours: Al-Nusra Orders Members to Use Chemical Weapons

The al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front ordered its members to use chemical weapons against the Syrian army and the people who stand against them.

Also in the last 24 hours, al-Qaeda offshoot in Syria, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS), executed a teenager accused of robbery in the Eastern city of Deir Ezzur without trial.

Elsewhere, the Syrian army targeted insurgents’ concentration centers and hideouts in several areas in Idlib countryside, killing and wounding tens of rebels.

Army soldiers targeted the militants’ hideouts in Khan Shaikhoun district in Idlib, Northwestern Syria, killing 56 and rounding a large number of them.

Also, the Syria Human Rights Watch quoted locals in Old Aleppo as saying that the sound of a strong blast was heard in the region on Saturday.

Elsewhere, the media affiliated to the Syrian opposition reported yesterday that retired Lebanese singer Fadel Shaker who had recently turned Salafi was killed in Deir Ezzur.

Also in the last 24 hours, units of the Syrian armed forces crushed more intrusion attempts by foreign-backed insurgents in several regions as the nation’s enthusiasm for the upcoming presidential election grows.

In Saturday operations, vigilant government troops killed 11 insurgents affiliated with the notorious al-Nusra Front terrorist group in Khan Sheikhoun area of Idlib countryside, the Syrian state news agency reported.

This is while an army unit targeted insurgent hideouts in Murek town in the outskirts of Hama, killing and injuring numerous militants and destroying their armed vehicles.

Citing a military source, the news agency added that the operation also led to the killing of the leader of the so-called Jabhat al-Islam terrorist group Khaled Sarhan al-Jasem as well as an al-Nusra Front commander identified as Ahmad Ibrahim al-Kadeh.

Elsewhere in Syria’s Northwestern city of Aleppo, twenty people were killed in the mortar attacks carried out by foreign-backed militants.

The militants fired 40 mortar shells on several neighborhoods of the flashpoint city, destroying many buildings.

Takfiri groups have stepped up their attacks against Syrians in several cities and towns as the country prepares for the presidential election on June 3.

Meanwhile, Syrian forces have regained full control over Height 724 North of Kassab village near the port city of Lattakia.

Government troops have killed 40 armed men and injured 70 more in Kassab.