26/10/2013 14:00
Kurds rout Syria jihadists on Iraq border
Fierce clashes raged Saturday after Syrian Kurds seized from jihadists a crossing on the Iraqi border, a key supply route for weapons and fighters in the 31-month war, AFP reported, citing activists.
UN and Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi meanwhile was due to visit Iran as he presses efforts to build a consensus for a Geneva conference aimed at ending the conflict that has killed tens of thousands.
Fighters from both sides were killed in the border clashes, which came a day after Syria's government and its opponents traded blame for a car bomb attack on a mosque that left dozens dead.
The Kurds "took control of the Al-Yaarubia border crossing with Iraq at dawn after clashes with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, the Al-Nusra Front and other rebels," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, citing activists.
The Kurds have been struggling to carve out an autonomous northeastern region similar to one in northern Iraq, further complicating the Syrian war.
The seizure of the border post was another reported blow for the Islamists after Syrian state television said on Friday that Al-Nusra's leader, Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, had been killed, but the Al-Qaeda-linked group said he was in good health.