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Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/11/20/uk-mideast-crisis-south-idUKKCN0J422U20141120
Syrian Islamists Attack Government-Held Town near Israel
(Reuters)Suleiman Al-Khalidi - About 2,000 fighters from al-Qaeda's Nusra Front and other insurgents attacked and briefly entered Baath City in southern Syria on Thursday, the Syrian army's last major bastion in Quneitra province flanking the Golan Heights along Israel's northeastern border. The insurgents were pushed back to the outskirts on Thursday, activists said. Hundreds of Nusra fighters who fled from the eastern Deir al-Zor province after being driven out by Islamic State earlier this year have regrouped in southern Syria, boosting the rebel presence there, activists say. Most of heavy weaponry and fighters in Quneitra province are drawn from hardline Islamist brigades such as Ahrar al-Sham and al-Muthana alongside Nusra. They have eroded the dominance of the Western-backed rebels that control areas further southeast towards Deraa city and along the Jordanian border.