(MENAFN- Arab Times) At least 72 fighters were killed in a single day as the Syrian army battled to relieve some 250 besieged regime loyalists under rebel assault, a monitoring group said Monday. President Bashar al-Assad had personally pledged to rescue the trapped troops and civilians, who are said to include senior figures and have been holed up in a hospital complex since rebels captured the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughur two weeks ago. As the relief column fought its way to within two kilometres (just over a mile) of the complex on Sunday morning, the rebels launched an all-out assault, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. At least 40 rebels and 32 government troops were killed in the heavy fighting that erupted inside the complex and with the advancing column, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. The clashes continued into the early hours of Monday with the rebels retaking some ground from the advancing troops before being pushed back. Among the 250 people holed up inside the complex are around 150 government troops, including "high-ranking officers," as well as their family members and some civil servants, Abdel Rahman said. It is unclear how much food and ammunition they have left. The rebels assaulting the complex include fighters of al-Qaeda affiliate Al- Nusra Front. They seized the rest of Jisr al-Shughur on April 25, extending their gains in Idlib province, where they have also captured the provincial capital and a military base in recent weeks.
Protests
More than 220,000 people have been killed in Syria since anti-government protests broke out in March 2011 spiralling into civil war in the face of a bloody crackdown by security forces. Elsewhere, Turkey's prime minister crossed into Syrian territory in an armored convoy Sunday to pay a surprise visit to the tomb of the grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire. The move prompted immediate criticism from Syria, which accused Turkey of acting aggressively toward a sovereign state. In February, Turkey sent hundreds of troops into Syria to move the tomb - which was being besieged by Islamic State militants - closer to the Turkish border and to evacuate dozens of Turkish soldiers who were guarding it. It was the first major military incursion into Syria by Turkey since the Syrian conflict began in March 2011. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu visited the shrine - which now lies 250 meters (yards) from the Turkish border in Syria's Ashma region - while on the campaign trail Sunday ahead of Turkey's June 7 general election. The private Dogan news agency said he crossed into Syria in a convoy of armored vehicles protected by helicopters. Syria's state news agency SANA called Davutoglu's visit to Syria without the approval of the Syrian government "a clear aggression on a sovereign state " and a violation of all laws and charters." Meanwhile, Syria's key opposition National Coalition will not take part in talks with the UN's peace envoy, instead delivering him a letter stating their position, a member told AFP on Monday. Hisham Marwa, deputy head of the coalition, which is recognised by much of the international community, dismissed the talks with UN envoy Staffan de Mistura as "unimportant". And he said the body had been angered by de Mistura's decision to invite key regime ally Iran to the consultations.
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