AMMAN, Jordan--A group of Islamist brigades, including the Al Qaeda-linked Nusrah Front, has taken over one of two official crossings on the 230-mile border between Syria and Jordan, according to a statement on one of the brigades' websites.
The Ahraar Al-Sham brigade, one of the largest armed rebel groups in Syria, announced that the Ramtha border crossing overlooking the city of Daraa in southern Syria was captured after more than four days of fighting by the "Operations Room of the Islamic Gathering," a coordinating body among various Islamist brigades. The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 26 government soldiers were killed in the clashes.