Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front evacuates bases in northwest Syria
Al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front, has evacuated its bases in populated areas of the Idlib region in northwest Syria after US-led forces carried out air strikes on the group, its fighters said on Wednesday.
Another Syrian Islamist group, Ahrar al-Sham, has also ordered its followers to evacuate bases, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group.
"Heavy weapons have been moved out of the bases. We do not want civilians to be harmed because of us," one Nusra fighter said in an online message posted on the Internet.
The Observatory also reported the Nusra withdrawal.
