Syrian army kills, captures several militants

The Syrian Army has killed several foreign-backed militants including a commander of the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group al-Nusra Front during clashes in the northern city of Aleppo.

A militant hideout was also demolished in Aleppo’s countryside on Saturday, the army said.

In Damascus, militants fired an RPG at civilians entering the Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp in the capital, injuring several refugees.

Elsewhere, the Syrian army said it had captured several terrorists behind civilian killings in Hama city.

The arrested militants have confessed to killing army personnel as well as raping and kidnapping women in Homs and Hama.

Government forces also managed to kill dozens of militants in the suburbs of the north-western city of Idlib. This is while two Syrian soldiers were killed and two others injured while defusing a bomb in the city.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel, have been killed in the turmoil.

According to a UN report, militants from 29 countries have so far filtered into Syria to fight against the Damascus government, most of whom are extremist Salafists.

The Syrian government has repeatedly said that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and that a very large number of the militants operating in the country are foreign nationals.