BEIRUT: Fresh clashes broke out in the northeast Syrian city of Qamishli yesterday between troops loyal to President Bashar Assad and fighters of Al-Nusra Front, a monitoring group said.

“Fierce battles broke out between regime troops and Al-Nusra Front near Zuri square at the entrance to Qamishli and near the city’s airport, leaving several dead on both sides,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Elsewhere, regime troops pounded Tawq Melh and Tal Hamis in the majority Kurdish province of Hasake, also in the north, said the Observatory, which relies on a network of activists, doctors and lawyers for its reports.

The fighting came a day after Assad’s regime called on the UN Security Council to class Al-Nusra Front as an Al-Qaeda-linked group, after its head pledged allegiance this week to Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri.