Clashes between Shia-Sunni towns over kidnapping 7 people north Syria

Binnish and al-Fu'ah neighboring towns in northwestern Syria witnessed fierce clashes recently over kidnapping 7 farmers from Binnish orchards by Fu'ah militants, Zaman Alwasl reported said.

Rebels of the Sunni town in response have bombarded the pro-Assad town, predominantly Shia, by heavy artillery, using homemade canons, what pushed Fu'ah fighters to release the captives.

 While most towns of  Idlib province are under rebels control and Islamists , al-Fu'ah and the nearby town of Kafriya constitute an isolated pro-Assad enclave.

The last kidnapping incident wasn't the first one between the rival towns; in April 2012 rebels kidnapped eleven members of the regime Scientific Research Center in al-Fu'ah. In July 2012 a rebel unit kidnapped three Shia people from the town for the stated purpose of exchanging them for anti-aircraft weaponry, In response, some of al-Fu'ah's residents kidnapped 32 Sunni Muslims from nearby Taftanaz, Saraqib and Binnish. After two weeks of negotiations, all captives were safely released, according to the Syrian Center for Documentation.

Syria’s conflict, now into its third year, has left over 115,000 dead. It has devastated the economy and the country’s delicate social fabric. It has caused 5 million Syrians to flee their homes to other places within the country, and driven another 2 million abroad.