CIVIL WAR

Syrian Troops Retake Strategic Town

Nine arrests linked to Turkish bombing in border town.

Syrian government troops have retaken control of a key town along the main highway from Damascus to Jordan, an activist group said on Monday. The Syrian rebels have managed to make gains in the northern part of the country and on the road to the Jordanian border, but Syria’s capital, Damascus, still appears to be under the control of President Bashar al-Assad. The rebels were forced to withdraw from the town of Khirbet Ghazaleh on Sunday, and government troops reopened the highway. Meanwhile in Turkey, where forces loyal to Assad have been blamed for carrying twin car bombings in a border town, nine people were arrested in connection to Saturday’s attack. Officials said all those arrested were Turkish citizens, but have been backed by Assad’s intelligence services.