BEIRUT: Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate and its allies seized on Saturday the city of Idlib, only the second provincial capital to be lost by the regime in more than four years of war.

The capture came as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed anger and shame at the world’s failure to stop the conflict.

More than 215,000 people have been killed since anti-government protests, which erupted in March 2011, were brutally repressed by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime civil war followed.

The country has been ravaged by warring factions, including jihadist groups.

The coalition that seized Idlib city is made up of Al-Nusra Front, the official Syrian affiliate of Al Qaeda, and several Islamist factions.

“Al-Nusra Front and its allies have captured all of Idlib,” the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

“There is still a group of soldiers fighting in the security quarter of the city, but they will not be able to reverse the situation,” Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman added.

The jihadist group also announced the capture of the northwestern city on its official Twitter accounts.

“Thanks be to God, the city of Idlib has been liberated,” it wrote.

The group posted photos of its fighters in front of the governorate building, the city council, a local prison and a police station in the city.

Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2015

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