(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate launched a fierce assault on the headquarters of a US-trained rebel group Friday, while claiming responsibility for capturing members of the "moderate" force earlier this week.
Al-Nusra Front unleashed its offensive on the base of the Division 30 unit in northern Aleppo province, a monitor said, sparking clashes and air raids by a US-led coalition that killed at least 18 of the jihadists.
Seven rebels died defending the base, which Al-Nusra failed to capture, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
In a statement on Facebook, Division 30 said five of its members had been killed and 18 wounded in the fight for the base.
It called on rebels to come to its aid in defending the base, and demanded that Al-Nusra stop "spilling the blood of Muslims."
Al-Nusra accused Washington of recruiting "forces from what it calls 'the moderate opposition'... to undergo a training and rehabilitation programme run by the Central Intelligence Agency.
"A few days ago, one of these groups called Division 30 entered Syria... so Al-Nusra arrested several soldiers of this division," the group announced.
It did not specify how many rebels had been captured, or where or when the incident took place.
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