Al Nusra Front

Nusra Front has renamed itself Jabhat Fatah al Sham so that the international community, the United States and Russia can no longer use the pretext of its affiliation with al Qaeda to attack Syrians, the group's leader, Abu Mohamad al-Golani said.

At least six people were killed and several were wounded in two attacks by suicide bombers in Syria's Hama province today, state media said, hours after a ceasefire took effect elsewhere in the country.

San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook had contact with people from at least two militant organizations overseas, including the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front in Syria, the Los Angeles Times reported on Friday, citing a federal law enforcement official.

Insurgents captured a town on a major highway in western Syria on Thursday, in a blow to the Russian-backed campaign against them, rebels and a monitoring group said.

A member of a new Syrian force trained by the US military was believed to have been killed in clashes last week with al Qaeda's Syria wing, in what would be the fledgling force's first battlefield casualty, US officials said in an interview on Monday.

The head of Syria's Nusra Front militant group mourned the death of al Qaeda's deputy leader in an audio message that underlined the organisations' close relationship and appeared to counter recent reports that it might split from the global network.

The head of al Qaeda's Syria wing Nusra Front said he saw no solution soon to a conflict with the rival Islamic State group in Syria that has killed hundreds of fighters, according to an interview with Al Jazeera aired on Wednesday.

Hezbollah's leader said on Tuesday his Lebanon-based militant group will launch an attack inside Syria against al Qaeda-linked insurgents in the mountain region along the countries' border.

Islamic State fighters have largely withdrawn from a Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of Damascus after expelling their main rival, several residents and a Palestinian official said today.

Fighters from Al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate and allied militants advanced today on a key government-held military base in northwestern Idlib province, a monitor said.

Islamist groups including al Qaeda's Nusra Front have seized major parts of Syria's city of Idlib for the first time since the conflict in the country began, fighters and a monitoring group said on Saturday.

An air strike in northwestern Syria hit a camp used by the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front on Sunday, killing at least nine of its fighters, a monitoring group said, in the second big attack on the group there in four days.

Al Qaeda's official Syrian wing, the Nusra Front, announced on Thursday the death of its top military commander, who insurgent sources said fell victim to a blast targeting a high-level militant meeting.

The United Nations Security Council on today banned all trade in antiquities from war-torn Syria, threatened sanctions on anyone buying oil from Islamic State and al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front militants and urged states to stop kidnap ransom payments.

A Western-backed rebel group in northern Syria that is under pressure from Al Qaeda's hardline Nusra Front has joined an alliance of mainly Islamist insurgent factions in Aleppo, a group monitoring the conflict said today.

Nusra Front has renamed itself Jabhat Fatah al Sham so that the international community, the United States and Russia can no longer use the pretext of its affiliation with al Qaeda to attack Syrians, the group's leader, Abu Mohamad al-Golani said.

At least six people were killed and several were wounded in two attacks by suicide bombers in Syria's Hama province today, state media said, hours after a ceasefire took effect elsewhere in the country.

San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook had contact with people from at least two militant organizations overseas, including the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front in Syria, the Los Angeles Times reported on Friday, citing a federal law enforcement official.

Insurgents captured a town on a major highway in western Syria on Thursday, in a blow to the Russian-backed campaign against them, rebels and a monitoring group said.

A member of a new Syrian force trained by the US military was believed to have been killed in clashes last week with al Qaeda's Syria wing, in what would be the fledgling force's first battlefield casualty, US officials said in an interview on Monday.

The head of Syria's Nusra Front militant group mourned the death of al Qaeda's deputy leader in an audio message that underlined the organisations' close relationship and appeared to counter recent reports that it might split from the global network.

The head of al Qaeda's Syria wing Nusra Front said he saw no solution soon to a conflict with the rival Islamic State group in Syria that has killed hundreds of fighters, according to an interview with Al Jazeera aired on Wednesday.

Hezbollah's leader said on Tuesday his Lebanon-based militant group will launch an attack inside Syria against al Qaeda-linked insurgents in the mountain region along the countries' border.

Islamic State fighters have largely withdrawn from a Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of Damascus after expelling their main rival, several residents and a Palestinian official said today.

Fighters from Al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate and allied militants advanced today on a key government-held military base in northwestern Idlib province, a monitor said.

Islamist groups including al Qaeda's Nusra Front have seized major parts of Syria's city of Idlib for the first time since the conflict in the country began, fighters and a monitoring group said on Saturday.

An air strike in northwestern Syria hit a camp used by the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front on Sunday, killing at least nine of its fighters, a monitoring group said, in the second big attack on the group there in four days.

Al Qaeda's official Syrian wing, the Nusra Front, announced on Thursday the death of its top military commander, who insurgent sources said fell victim to a blast targeting a high-level militant meeting.

The United Nations Security Council on today banned all trade in antiquities from war-torn Syria, threatened sanctions on anyone buying oil from Islamic State and al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front militants and urged states to stop kidnap ransom payments.

A Western-backed rebel group in northern Syria that is under pressure from Al Qaeda's hardline Nusra Front has joined an alliance of mainly Islamist insurgent factions in Aleppo, a group monitoring the conflict said today.