Al-Nusra front kidnaps Jarba\'s bodyguard in Daraa

The al-Qaeda-linked terrorists abducted the commander of the Military Council of Daraa Militants who was also the personal bodyguard of Ahmed Al-Jarba, the head of the Opposition Coalition Council. Ahmed Fahad Al-Na'ameh, Jarba's bodyguard, was kidnapped by the Al-Nusra terrorists in Daraa province on Sunday. Five other militants, including Khaled Al-Rafaei, ringleader of Hamd Al-Sani militant group in Al-Ghariyeh region and Moussa Al-Ahmed, commander of Al-Farsan Al-Awwal have also been abducted by the Al-Nusra in Daraa. Also in the past 24 hours, the Syrian army made major advances towards Aleppo Central Prison by pushing back the foreign-backed militants from the area, informed sources announced. "The Syrian army is only few hundred meters away from the Aleppo Central Prison and they will soon begin to break the prison siege," informed military sources told FNA on Sunday. Elsewhere, clashes between the al-Qaeda-linked terrorists intensified in different parts of Hasaka province in Northeastern parts of Syria. The clashes between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Al-Nusra Front have resulted in blackout in Hasaka province for four months. Moreover, the Hasaka residents do not have access to Internet for 410 days. Hasaka is Syria's third province in terms of area and it has four power lines, but only two of its lines, which are Mabroukeh and Al-Savidieh, are operating. Elsewhere, the Syrian army advanced in a number of strategic areas by staging a series of successful operations against militant groups. The army advanced in al-Ramoseh and al-Ameriah neighborhoods in Aleppo Province, a military source told the state news agency today. The source said that the army units also confronted armed groups tried to sneak towards Brakat al-Arman and al-Hamidiah in Aleppo city, leaving the groups' members killed and wounded. The army units also destroyed a militants' hideout in al-Hatab yard in Aleppo and a tunnel was used by militants in their movements and criminal acts, killing a number of them and injuring others. In Homs, a military source said that the army units confronted militant groups tried to attack military checkpoints in Sha'er Mount and Bsira, West of Palmyra, and near the junction of al-Sindieh in Talbeseh in Homs countryside. The militant groups' members were killed and wounded. Syria's national army has made major advances on Meliha, a strategic town located Southeast of Damascus, a security official said. "More than half of the town is under army control," the official said on Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The army has reached the town hall building. All the orchards and roads leading to the town are now in the army's hands, as is the South, the West and the Southeast". The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported the advance. Like the rest of the Eastern Ghouta area, Meliha has been undergoing fierce clashes for weeks. "Its capture would be very important for the army to secure Jaramana," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman, referring to a majority Druze and Christian suburb of Damascus near Meliha. Its fall from militants’ hands would also be key for the Syrian army's bid to take back the Eastern Ghouta area, a militant bastion. Meantime, Supreme Constitutional Court Spokesperson Majida Khadra said on Sunday that the court has accepted the presidential candidacy applications of Maher Abdul-Hafiz Hajjar, Hassan Abdullah al-Nouri and incumbent President Bashar al-Assad. The spokesperson added that those who have got their candidacy applications rejected have the right to submit their complaints to the court within three days as of Monday May 5th until Wednesday May 7th, 2014, Syrian state news agency reported. "The court calls on the supporters of any candidate of the three who were accepted not to practice any media or promotional activities before the final announcement of the accepted candidates is issued," he said. The Al-Nusra Front, the Al-Qaeda franchise in Syria, has seized a rebel commander in the Southern province of Daraa, a monitoring group said on Sunday. "Al-Nusra Front last night arrested the head of the Military Council of Daraa, Captain Ahmad Naameh, along with five other commanders of opposition factions," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Activists also reported his capture, which took place amid significant rebel advances in the province, where Al-Nusra Front has only a limited presence. Naameh had traveled from Jordan to Daraa last week to help unite rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad's government, excluding those of the terrorist Al-Nusra. The Observatory's Rami Abdel Rahman said Naameh was likely to have been detained because of his recent criticizing statements against the brutal acts of extremist militants. But some activists in Daraa have accused Naameh of being power-hungry. Some two months ago, rebels fighting to topple Assad established the so-called Southern Front, which includes some 30,000 fighters from more than 55 mainstream opposition groups operating from the Jordanian border to the outskirts of Damascus and the Golan Heights. Elsewhere, fighters of the Al-Nusra Front terrorist group attempted to infiltrate the Lebanese territories at the Harf region near the Eastern Mountain Belt through Assal Al-Ward plains, but were repelled by a group of villagers. The residents of the town caused a large number of deaths and injuries and destroyed a number of their vehicles. Some of them managed to escape and pulled out towards the Syrian territories with at least three militants bodies left in the battlefield. Also, youths of Deir Ezzor province staged on Sunday a solidarity stand in al-Joura neighborhood to support the Syrian Army in face of the armed groups and in support of the national principles and the upcoming presidential elections. Meantime, the Syrian army destroyed the concentration centers of the militant groups in different parts of Idlib in the Northwestern parts of Syria, and killed tens of terrorists, including a notorious ringleader of the so-called 'Syria Revolutionaries Front'. Ali Al-Hassoun, commander of the so-called Syria Revolutionaries Front, was killed in heavy clashes with the Syrian army in Moamareh Al-Naman in Idlib countryside. Also, the ringleaders of militant groups in Homs city have vowed to join the Syrian national defense forces and pledged not to carry out any attack on the Syrian people. Homs Governor-General Tallal al-Barazi said that talks with armed groups are in final stages for evacuating them from old Homs city and negotiations are underway with their ringleaders to compile an agreement as a result of which the rebels will surrender to the Syrian army. Meantime, deadly infighting between rival Takfiri groups reportedly forced tens of thousands of Syrians to flee their towns in Syria’s Eastern province of Deir al-Zour. The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on  Saturday that militants from the terrorist al-Nusra Front and those belonging to ISIL have been engaged in fierce infighting in Deir al-Zour over the past four days. The UK-based group also said more than 62 extremist militants had been killed in the infighting. "Residents of the towns of Busayra, home to 35,000 people, Abriha, home to 12,000 people, and al-Zir, home to 15,000 people, have nearly all been displaced by the fighting in the area," said the UK-based group.