Qaeda militants, Islamists evacuate Syria bases

Al-Qaeda's Syrian branch, Al-Nusra Front, said Wednesday that it is evacuating its bases and positions in the northeastern province of Idlib, a day after US-led strikes were launched against militants.

Ahrar al-Sham, a key Islamist rebel group allied with Nusra, was also evacuating its positions in the region, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.

On Twitter, Nusra said it had "evacuated the majority" of it bases near residential areas.

"Thousands of fighters from Al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham have evacuated their bases in Idlib province," the Observatory said.

The Britain-based group, which relies on a network of activists and other sources on the ground, said Ahrar al-Sham had also urged "civilians to keep their distance from bases" belonging to it.