Insurgents killed 56 govt troops at captured air base: Syria monitor

Beirut: A group tracking the Syrian war said on Saturday that Islamist insurgents shot dead 56 members of Syrian government forces in a mass execution at an air base captured from the army earlier this month in northwestern Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the mass killing at Abu al-Duhur air base happened a few days ago, citing sources on the ground. The air base in Idlib province was captured by an alliance of groups including the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front on September 9.

"We confirmed it yesterday in the evening, via people who witnessed it, and via some pictures that arrived - the execution happened," Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Observatory, said, speaking by telephone.