Syria's Al-Qaeda offshoot the Nusra Front claimed Friday the capturing of three Hezbollah fighters in the east of Aleppo province, killing and wounding several others. A Twitter account affiliated to the group said that the militants kidnapped three Hezbollah fighters south of Aleppo, leaving some casualties and injuries in their wake. No further details were offered on the operation, which was conducted in the early morning hours of Friday. The announcement was accompanied by the photos of the three detained Hezbollah combatants. "The heroes of Jaish al-Fatah (Conquest Army which is a coalition of rebel groups) managed to seize Hezbollah fighters," the extremist group Nusra Front said in a tweet. Another tweet displayed an amulet found on one of the Hezbullah fighters. Syria's army, backed by allied forces including Hezbollah, and Russian airstrikes, seized Thursday a key town south of Aleppo from rebels. State television announced the capture of Al-Hader, a former opposition bastion near the key Aleppo-Damascus highway, just 48 hours after government forces broke a siege by ISIS of the Kweires air base in the east of Aleppo province. Both advances come after Moscow launched an air campaign in support of government forces on Sept. 30, prompting the army to begin offensives in several provinces. Al-Hader was largely controlled by Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front and other allied Islamist groups, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The town has been a key goal of the government offensive south of Aleppo city, which was launched on Oct. 17 with Russian air support. Aleppo city has been divided between government control in the west and rebel control in the east since shortly after fighting began there in mid-2012.
