Jihadis from Caucuses form own group in Syria

BEIRUT (AP) -- A foreign fighter in Syria says jihadis from the Caucuses have formed an independent fighting force.

In a video posted online Wednesday by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a man wearing a camouflage uniform is seen standing among other fighters, who he says have come to Syria from the Caucuses and Russia to wage jihad.

The group is called The Mujahedin of the Caucuses and the Levant. The man says the group has no links with al-Qaida-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant groups which are among the most effective opposition forces.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, the Observatory's chief, said the video was taken in the northern Idlib province.

Thousands of foreign fighters have joined the fight since the conflict began in March 2011.