Report: Syria Rebels Control Bab al-Hawa Border Post with Turkey

Syrian rebels seized control of the Bab al-Hawa border post with Turkey on Friday after a fierce battle with Syrian troops, an Agence France Presse photographer at the scene reported.

The carcasses of burnt-out lorries were scattered across the scene of the battle. Some 150 armed rebel fighters were in control of the post, which lies opposite Turkey's Cilvegozu border crossing in the southern province of Hatay.

The rebel fighters had already sacked the buildings making up the Syrian border post, which were bloodstained and riddled with bullets from the battle.

They had also helped themselves to the contents of the Turkish lorries that were caught up in the battle as they waited to cross the border.

Syrian government soldiers had abandoned the site.

The border post lies in the northwest Syrian province of Idlib, the scene of fierce fighting for months now.

The London-based Observatory for Human Rights first announced on Thursday that the Syrian rebel fighters had captured the border post.

A video posted on YouTube showed armed men at the site firing in the air to celebrate their victory and destroying a large portrait of Syrian President Bashar Assad.