Al-Nusra is aligned with al Qaeda and rose to power in Syria in 2012.
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Washington and Ankara announced this week they would provide air cover for a select group of Syrian rebels in their plan to sweep Islamic State fighters from an earmarked zone along the border with Turkey inside northern Syria.
The new “Syrian Safe Zone” that the US and Turkey have agreed to create will be some 60 miles of “moderate insurgent” held territory along the Turkish border.
There was no official comment from the Nusra Front, which has in the past moved against rebel groups backed by the United States. The program trains and equips Syrian fighters to combat the hardline Islamic State group.
Given al-Nusra’s track record with kidnapping, the moderate rebels are most likely being held in a detention center in Aleppo and will be used for leverage in negotiations with the U.S. and Turkey in regard to weapon shipments and cash support. Last year, the extremist group routed the U.S.-backed Harakat Hazm rebel group and the Syria Revolutionary Front from their main northern strongholds in the Idlib province, dealing a blow to U.S. efforts to arm and train Syrian rebels. Division 30 called on al-Nusra Front to free the abductees “as quickly as possible to preserve Muslim blood and avoid weakening the fronts with side disputes between brothers”. The so-called train-and-equip program, which was set to start in May, has been delayed, and no one knows when, or even if, it will start. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said it has fallen far behind plans.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said he had seen the reports about the abductions, but could not confirm whether the captured rebels had been trained by the U.S.
Few veteran rebel fighters want to join a force that is focused only on ISIL.
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The first batch of graduates of the $500 million program, reportedly 54-strong, are said to have recently crossed into Syria from Turkey.
