Al-Nusra Front kidnaps head of US-backed rebel group in Syria

US-backed rebels on Sunday accused fighters from al-Nusra Front of storming their headquarters in northwestern Syria and kidnapping their commander, along with dozens of other combatants.

In a statement published online on Sunday, Jaish al-Tahrir (Army of Liberation) said its commander, Mohammad al-Ghabi, had been abducted from his father's home in the town of Kafranbel by al-Nusra Front militants on Saturday evening.

It said the group's fighters had also "kidnapped more than 40 members of Jaish al-Tahrir" and stolen weapons from other bases and checkpoints set up in northwestern Syria.

"We call on al-Nusra Front to immediately release our commander and all the others who were kidnapped," the statement said, urging other Islamist groups to put pressure on the militants.

The US is known to have directly supported Jaish al-Tahrir in the past with weapons and even salaries for individual fighters.

Al-Nusra has attacked several US-backed groups in northwestern Idlib province, most recently raiding the warehouses of Division 13 in the town of Maarat al-Numan in March.

In the summer of 2015, it kidnapped several members of US-trained rebel group Division 30 and requisitioned their weapons shortly after they entered Syria.

Although they have faced fierce opposition from other groups within Syria, US-backed rebels have managed to achieve some success, this week seizing a huge cache of IS documents.

Idlib province is controlled by the Army of Conquest, an alliance of Islamist and rebel fighters led by al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham.

Residents of towns like Maarat al-Numan and Kafranbel have demonstrated against al-Nusra's hardline ideology.

Syria's five-year conflict began with anti-government demonstrations, but has since turned into a complex war increasingly dominated by militant groups including Islamic State.

More than 280,000 people have been killed and millions have been forced to flee their homes since March 2011.