Activists: Syrians flee city seized by al-Qaida, rebel factions, fearing government reprisals


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BEIRUT (AP) — Syrians are fleeing Idlib a day after al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front captured the northwestern town from government forces.

Activists say many people in the population of 165,000 are scared of possible government reprisals. Activists also say members of a Syrian security agency killed more than a dozen detainees before withdrawing from a detention center in the city.

Idlib is the second provincial capital to fall to the opposition. Raqqa has become a stronghold of the Islamic State group.

The Nusra Front and Syrian rebels have controlled the countryside and towns across Idlib province since 2012, but Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces had maintained their grip on Idlib city, near the border with Turkey. With Idlib's capture, extremist groups now control about half of Syria.

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