Syria’s al-Qaida leader vows to fight on in Idlib

BEIRUT - Associated Press

The leader of Syria’s al-Qaida affiliate has vowed to fight on in Idlib province, the country’s last major rebel stronghold, in the face of a possible government offensive.

Abu Mohammed al-Golani of the militant Levant Liberation Committee says state-sponsored surrenders of rebel groups, similar to those that recently occurred in southern Syria, won’t happen in Idlib.

His comments came as government forces have been sending reinforcements into Idlib, in the country’s northwest along the border with Turkey.

Syrian government forces captured rebel-held suburbs of the capital, Damascus, earlier this year as well as the southern provinces of Daraa, Quneitra and Sweida.

Al-Golani’s comments came in a video posted online to mark the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha. The statement was posted shortly before midnight Tuesday.