Qaida in Syria Seizes Tanks, APCs from Army

Al-Qaida fighters in Syria seized dozens of tanks and armored personnel carriers from the army when they took two regime bases this week, a monitor said on Friday.

Al-Nusra Front, Al-Qaida's Syria branch, captured the Wadi al-Deif and Hamidiyeh military posts in the northwestern province of Idlib on Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Britain-based group, which relies on a network of sources on the ground, had said in an earlier report that nearly 200 combatants on both sides were killed in a 24-hour battle for the bases.

Al-Nusra Front fighters, backed by allied Islamist insurgents, captured at least 120 soldiers, the Observatory said at the time.

On Friday, it reported that the jihadists also seized 35 tanks and 20 armored personnel carriers "stuffed with ammunition".