Syrian troops kill 15 rebels in ambush near Lebanon border

The Syrian troops on Friday killed 15 rebels and injured 25 others in a rugged region northwest of the capital Damascus, close to the Lebanese frontier, the state-run SANA news agency reported.
The rebels were targeted at the Flaita area in the western side of the al-Qalamoun region, bordering Lebanon, the report said.
Meanwhile, the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said tens of rebels were ambushed on Friday in Flaita, where intense battles have been raging on for days, adding that a rebel commander was among the ambushed rebels.
The Syrian troops have in recent months captured many rebel- held areas in al-Qalamoun region except for the Flaita area and the mountainous resort of Zabadani.
The Lebanese Hezbollah fighters were reportedly backing the Syrian troops in the battles in Flaita as the area is adjacent to the Lebanese town of Ersal, another hotspot where the radical militants have recently used as a conduit to move cash, weapons and fighters between Syria and Lebanon.
The battles in Flaita are part of a broader conflict that has intensified recently between the Syrian troops and an array of armed militant groups across the country, mainly in the eastern countryside of Damascus, the southern province of Qunaitera, the northwestern province of Idlib and the oil-rich region of Deir al- Zour in eastern Syria.