(Reuters) -
Syria's al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front and other Sunni Muslim militants
fought during the night to capture two Shi'ite villages in the
country's north but were repelled, activists on both sides of the war
and a monitoring group said on Friday. The insurgents were
briefly able to control streets in the southern part of Zahra and
buildings in the nearby village of Nubl, north of Aleppo city, according
to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The
militants, who used tanks, were pushed back from both areas by the
National Defence Force, a grouping of loyalist militias under the
umbrella of the army, it said. Pro-government
activists published photos on social media that they said showed the
bodies of Nusra Front fighters in a ditch near the villages. Reuters
could not confirm the authenticity of the photos. The
clashes were not reported on the state news agency SANA and the
Ministry of Information was not immediately available for comment on
Friday. Both towns have
been under a long siege by anti-government forces. The army has used
helicopters to drop supplies to the villagers. Aleppo
and surrounding areas have been hit by heavy fighting in a conflict
which is now in its fourth year and has killed some 200,000 people,
according to the United Nations. In Syria, insurgents have besieged 26,500 people and the government has besieged 185,500 people, the U.N. says. The
conflict began in March 2011 with popular protests against President
Bashar al-Assad and spiraled into civil war after a crackdown by
security forces.
Syria's al Qaeda attacks besieged Shi'ite villages

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