Syrian military kills 16 militants

At least 16 militants were killed and 17 others injured in separate military ambushes in southern and northern Syria, media reported Sunday.

The army ambushed a group of extremists in the vicinity of the airbase of Abu al-Duhur in the northwestern province of Idlib Saturday, killing 10 of them, including two leaders, Xinhua reported citing pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV.

They also targeted Saturday a meeting of leaders of the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front in the rugged al-Qalamoun region, north of the capital Damascus and close to the Lebanese border, killing six militants and injuring 17 others, according to the TV.

Intense clashes have raged since Saturday morning between the Syrian troops, backed by the Lebanese Hezbollah group, and the Nusra Front in the barren area of Flaita in the western part of al-Qalamoun, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

SOHR Sunday said five members of Hezbollah and seven government soldiers were killed during the Flaita battles, adding that an undisclosed number of the Nusra fighters were also killed.

It said the Syrian troops renewed shelling the area Sunday, without information on losses yet.