Agence France Presse reported Sunday that Al Qaeda-linked fighters in Syria detonated four suicide bombs on army positions in an attempt to cut of Idlib province from coastal access.
"Four Al Nusra Front fighters carried out suicide attacks this morning, driving vehicles packed with explosives into four regime forces' checkpoints in the Jabal Al Arbaeen area near Ariha city," the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP.
According to the Observatory, dozens of regime troops were killed or wounded, but no specific numbers on the death toll were available at the time the report was released.
The regime allegedly countered the attacks with an aerial offensive, leaving two rebels dead and another 15 wounded.
The initial rebel attack was an alleged attempt to "cut off the road before the presidential vote [on June 3]," according to the Observatory, in reference to the so-called national presidential election that will only hold polls in regime-controlled areas.
Syria's president Bashar Al Assad is largely expected to win the elections that have been labeled as a farce by many Western actors as well as the opposition.
The regime is currently in control of the cities of Idlib and Ariha in the Idlib province, but the countryside areas are under the control of the rebels.
At least 160,000 people have died in the three-year conflict and millions more have been forced to flee from their homes.
