US-trained Syrian rebels cross into Syria from Turkey

A handful of U.S.-trained Syrian rebels known as the 30th Division have crossed into Syria from Turkey under the fire cover of the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition, the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV reported Monday.

The 30th Division, a small group of 60 fighters trained by the United States on Turkish territories, aims to reach the town of Mare on the Syrian-Turkish borders to aid the outgunned rebels there against the repetitive attacks of the Islamic State (IS) group, said the report.

It said the rebels entered from Turkey through the city of Azaz in the countryside of the northern province of Aleppo.

The group was heavily challenged when the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front abducted its leader along with a number of its fighters in recent months.

Last July, the 30th Division, part of the West-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA), said their leader and his comrades were snatched by the Nusra Front in the northern countryside of Aleppo.

In August, the group said seven of its fighters were released by the Nusra, urging for the release of the rest and the group's leader.

In June, U.S. officials said the first unit of the FSA, which was trained by the United States to fight the Islamic State (IS) group, had crossed into Syria from the training camps in neighboring Jordan, according to the Washington Post.

The fighters, numbering about several dozen, are among the first to be trained by the United States which announced it was going to train "vetted" and "moderate" rebels to fight the IS.

Source: XINHUA