The US attacks on Syrian al-Qaeda faction Jabhat al-Nusra distanced them from their former allies in the Syrian moderate rebellion, and those rebels are now paying the price in lost territory, as Nusra treats them as US proxies for the sake of retaliation.
Nusra forces seized four villages in Idlib Province today, all belonging to pro-US moderate factions, and also seized the town of Minnig in Aleppo Province, on the outskirts of Aleppo City, which was similarly in moderate hands.
The Idlib villages fell with little challenge, as the rebels seek to consolidate their positions and cede their front line villages without much resistance, an admission of Nusra’s tendency to rout them in direct fighting.
There was some fighting over Minnig, though Nusra quickly won the town, and ordered all other rebel factions therein to disband and turn their weapons over to them. How many of those weapons were US provided is unclear, but if history is any indication will be significant.
