DAMASCUS, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least 17 jihadist fighters have been killed over the past two days in their battle against Syrian military positions in the southern province of al-Qunaitera, an opposition monitoring group reported on Saturday.
Three rebel leaders were among those killed during a battle last Thursday waged by an array of jihadist groups against Syrian military posts in the countryside of Qunaitera, which borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists on ground.
The battle aimed at controlling many military posts in the countryside of Qunaitera, mainly three military posts in the towns of Tal al-Kurum, Mant al-Hussan, and Jaba, the Observatory said.
It said that Syrian gunships on Saturday dropped crude barrel bombs on the towns of Um Batneh and Mashara in al-Qunaitera countryside, leaving unknown losses among the rebel groups.
Meanwhile, the state news agency SANA said Syrian troops dealt "heavy blows" to positions of the "terrorist" groups in the town of Mashara in al-Qunaitera, charging that those jihadist groups were working in coordination with Israel.
Citing a military source, SANA said Syrian troops are continuing their operations Mashara, adding that 20 rebel fighters were killed in the nearby town of Buraiqa.
Meanwhile, the state-run al-Ekhbaria TV aired a footage purporting to show the dead bodies of the jihadist fighters in the al-Qunaitera countryside.
Various jihadist groups have been trying to advance in al-Qunaitera by waging many battles on different fronts hoping to open the way to the capital Damascus. The Syrian troops have so far managed to withstand repetitive attacks in that key province.
Government officials have accused Israel of aiding the jihadists there to serve a personal interest of imposing a buffer zone in al-Qunaitera to distant its occupied terrain from nearby violence.
Separately, the Observatory said on Saturday that the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front had cut off water and electricity in the city of Idlib for a week, in retaliation to government troops' capture of 40 female university students over charges of being relatives of rebel fighters.
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