Activists: Syrian troops ambush rebels, kill 62

By BASSEM MROUE
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) -- Syrian government forces killed more than 60 rebels Wednesday in an ambush near Damascus, a blow to opposition fighters confronting a regime offensive in the capital, activists said.

The state news agency SANA confirmed the ambush near the Damascus suburb of Adra at dawn, saying "dozens" were killed. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 62 rebels died. It did not report any government casualties.

SANA said the rebels were members of the al-Qaida-linked Jabhat al-Nusra or Nusra Front. It added that they included foreign fighters.

Syrian troops have been on the offensive in the past few months in an attempt to clear out Damascus suburbs used by opposition fighters to threaten President Bashar Assad's seat of power.

State-run broadcaster Al-Ikhbariya TV aired footage of bloodied dead men, some in military uniforms. It said they were killed in an ambush as they were on their way to attack an army post near Damascus.

The bodies were gathered in what appeared to be a desert area.

Al-Ikhbariya TV also showed a Tunisian passport of a man who was born in 1978. The picture on the passport was of a bearded man. It also showed Islamic headbands and automatic rifles that were apparently carried by the rebels.

Mohammed Saeed, an activist who is based near Damascus, told The Associated Press that 65 rebels were on their way from the eastern suburbs of the capital to the nearby area of Qalamoun. He added that the rebels were walking the 30 kilometer (19 mile) trip because it is dangerous to drive in the area as it is watched by regime forces.

"The regime forces riddled them with heavy machinegun fire," Saeed said via Skype. He added that 62 were killed and three escaped and reached Qalamoun.

"It seems that the regime discovered the secret road that the rebels were using," Saeed said.

Syria's crisis started as largely peaceful uprising against Assad's rule in March 2011 but turned into a civil war after opposition supporters took up arms to fight a brutal government crackdown. More than 100,000 people have been killed in the violence.