Syrian forces 'kill many rebels' in Eastern Ghouta
The Nusra Front is an al-Qaeda-linked group that has joined rebels in the armed revolt against President Assad Syrian government forces have ambushed and killed a large number of Islamist rebel fighters in the eastern outskirts of the capital Damascus, reports say.
Syrian state media says 175 died.
But the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says it has received reports that about 70 died in the fighting in the Eastern Ghouta region.
The Observatory also reported that about 3,300 people had been killed in fighting between rebel factions since the start of the year.
"Some 3,300 people have been killed ever since the start of fighting on January 3 between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on one side, and Islamist and other groups on the other," it said.
'Well-organised ambush'Eastern Ghouta is a rebel stronghold where Syrian forces are believed to have carried out a chemical weapons attack last year.
"Acting on information and in a well-organised ambush, our courageous army killed dozens of al-Nusra Front terrorists, most of them non-Syrians, in the Eastern Ghouta area," said state television.
The Observatory said: "Dozens of Islamist fighters were killed and wounded in an ambush by loyalist troops, with the help of (Lebanese Shia group) Hezbollah, near Otaybeh village in the Eastern Ghouta area."
State news agency Sana said the fighters were mainly Saudis, Qataris and Chechens.
The Nusra Front is an al-Qaeda-linked group that has joined rebels in an armed revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.
Syria's war has killed more than 140,000 people and forced millions to flee since March 2011.
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