DAMASCUS, Oct 25: Syrian troops on Friday ambushed rebels near the capital, Damascus, killing at least 40 opposition fighters, state media reported.

The ambush was part of the military’s offensive against rebel strongholds around President Bashar Assad’s seat of power.

Also on Friday, Kurdish gunmen battled Jihadi rebels in a northeastern Syrian town along the border with Iraq, leaving a number of casualties on both sides, activists said.

The ambush near Damascus came hours after government forces captured the town of Hatitat al Turkomen south of the city, securing a key highway that links the capital with the Damascus International Airport.

State-run Sana news agency said 40 rebels were killed in the ambush, which took place near the Otaiba area, and that a large arms cache was seized, including anti-tank rockets. The area is part of a region known as Eastern Ghouta, which was the scene of a horrific chemical weapons attack in August, when several hundred people, including many women and children, were killed. An unidentified Syrian army officer in the area told state-run Al Ikhbariya TV station that there were foreign fighters among the dead and that the ambush followed an intelligence tip.—AP