BEIRUT (AP) — Islamic fighters led by al-Qaida's branch in Syria seized almost full control of the northwestern city of Idlib on Saturday, taking over major roundabouts and government buildings in a powerful blow to President Bashar Assad whose forces rapidly collapsed after four days of heavy fighting, opposition activists and the extremist group said.

Idlib, a major urban center with a population of around 165,000 people, is the second provincial capital to fall into opposition hands after Raqqa, now a stronghold of the Islamic State group. Its capture by the Nusra Front underscores the growing power of extremist groups in Syria who now control about half the country.

Opposition fighters including Nusra have controlled the countryside and towns across Idlib province since 2012, but Assad's forces have managed to maintain their grip on Idlib city, near the border with Turkey, throughout the conflict.

On Saturday, Islamic fighters jubilantly swept in, taking over key buildings and tearing down posters of Assad. Videos posted online by activists and the Nusra Front showed a group of heavily armed fighters kneeling down in prayer in the city's sprawling Hanana square as others fired their guns in celebration.

"Allahu Akbar!" — God is great — they shouted. The fighters then took down a Syrian flag flying in the center of the square and set it on fire to the backdrop of incessant shooting. The video appeared genuine and consistent with AP reporting on Idlib's takeover Saturday.

On its Twitter account, Nusra posted pictures of the Clock Tower and other landmark locations now under its control.

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In this image posted on the Twitter page of Syria's al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front on Friday, March …

The Nusra Front is leading a group of ultra-conservative rebels in a major offensive that began earlier this week to take Idlib. They include the hardline Ahrar al-Sham and Jund al-Aqsa groups and a few smaller groups loosely affiliated with the Free Syrian Army.

With the takeover of Idlib, an island of government territory in the midst of mostly opposition terrain, the Nusra Front further cements its hold over an impressive stretch of land it controls from the Turkish border to central and southern Syria.

With the world's attention focused on the Islamic State group, the Nusra Front has quietly consolidated its power in Syria in recent months, crushing moderate rebel groups the West may try to work with while increasingly enforcing its own brutal version of Islamic law.

Idlib, besides being a major population city, is located near the main highway linking the capital Damascus with Aleppo.

The main Western-backed Syrian National Coalition opposition group said the wresting of Idlib from government control is an "important victory on the road to the full liberation of Syrian soil from the Assad regime and its allies." However, it said more "decisive" assistance to Syrian rebels was needed for that to happen.

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In this image posted on the Twitter page of Syria's al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front on Friday, March …

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebel fighters seized control of Idlib in a push Friday evening and early Saturday after rapidly collapsing government forces withdrew.

The group, which relies on an extensive network of activists across Syria, said some fighting continued Saturday amid heavy artillery shelling from both sides. The Local Coordination Committees, another opposition activist collective in Syria, also reported the "almost complete" capture of Idlib by rebels.

An unnamed Syrian military official quoted by state-run news agency SANA said army forces were fighting "fierce battles" against "armed terrorist groups" to regain control in Idlib.

The government claimed earlier this week that "thousands of terrorists" streamed in from Turkey to attack Idlib and its suburbs. Turkey is one of the main backers of the rebels.

The humiliating losses in Idlib mark the second blow to government forces this week, after rebels, also led by Nusra, captured the ancient and strategic town of Busra Sham in southern Syria.

Also Saturday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was angry and shamed by the failure of the world to stop Syria's raging civil war. He promised to step up diplomatic efforts in comments at a summit of Arab leaders in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.

More than 220,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which began with popular protests amid Arab Spring uprisings in March 2011 and turned into an insurgency following a brutal military crackdown.

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Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria and Hamza Hendawi in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt contributed to this report.

AFP Videos
Polling stations open in Nigerian presidential election

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Boko Haram extremists killed 41 people, including a legislator, and scared hundreds of people from polling stations in the northeast, but millions voted across Nigeria Saturday in the most closely contested presidential race in the nation's history.

In electoral violence elsewhere, three people including a soldier were shot and killed in political thuggery in southern Rivers state, and two car bombs exploded at polling stations in the southeast but no one was injured, according to police.

All the Boko Haram attacks took place in northeastern Nigeria, where the military Friday announced it had cleared the Islamic extremists from all major centers, including the headquarters of their so-called Islamic caliphate.

Nearly 60 million people have cards to vote, and for the first time there is a possibility that a challenger can defeat a sitting president in the high-stakes contest to govern Africa's richest and most populous nation.

The front-runners among 14 candidates are President Goodluck Jonathan, a 57-year-old Christian from the south, and former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari, 72, from the predominantly Muslim north.

Voters also are electing 360 legislators to the House of Assembly, where the opposition currently has a slight edge over Jonathan's party. Voting for 13 constituencies was postponed until April because of shortages of ballot papers, electoral officials said.

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People displaced following attacks by Islamist militants lineup for accreditation before casting the …

Nigeria's political landscape was transformed two years ago when the main opposition parties formed a coalition and for the first time united behind one candidate, Buhari. Dozens of legislators defected from Jonathan's party.

Polling will continue Sunday in some areas where new machines largely failed to read voters' biometric cards, said Kayode Idowu, spokesman of the Independent National Electoral Commission. That includes some areas of Lagos, a megacity of 20 million and Nigeria's commercial capital on the Atlantic coast.

Even the president was affected. Three newly imported card readers failed to recognize the fingerprints of Jonathan and his wife. Biometric cards and readers are being used for the first time to discourage the kind of fraud that has marred previous votes.

Afterward, Jonathan wiped sweat from his brow and urged people to be patient as he had been, telling Channels TV: "I appeal to all Nigerians to be patient no matter the pains it takes as long as if, as a nation, we can conduct free and fair elections that the whole world will accept."

Nigerians exercised extraordinary restraint, waiting hours in heat that rose to 100 degrees (37 degrees Celsius) in some places. Many remained for more hours after voting ended to witness the ballot count, determined to do their part to try to keep the elections honest.

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People displaced following attacks by Islamist militants raise their arms as they pass through secur …

"The high voter turnout and the dedication and patience of Nigerian voters is, in itself, a triumph of Nigerian democracy," said the national counter-insurgency spokesman, Mike Omeri. He praised the bravery and commitment of military and security agencies that he said made the elections possible.

Struggling with blackouts that are routine, some officials counted ballots by the light of vehicles and cellphones.

Earlier, before dawn, Boko Haram extremists invaded the town of Miringa in Borno state, torching people's homes and then shooting them as they tried to escape the smoke. Twenty-five people died in the attack, Borno state Gov. Kashim Shettima told a news conference in the city of Maiduguri.

"They had sent messages earlier warning us not to encourage democracy by participating in today's election," said Mallam Garba Buratai, a Miringa resident who witnessed the attack.

Nigeria's home-grown Islamic extremists say democracy is a corrupt Western concept and point to the endemic corruption as a reason to do away with it in favor of an Islamic caliphate.

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Nigerian women from the Hausa tribe queue to validate their voting cards, at a polling station locat …

Another 14 people were killed in extremist attacks on the town of Biri and Dukku, in Gombe state, according to police and local chief Garkuwan Dukku.

Among the dead was a Gombe state legislator, Umaru Ali, said Sani Dugge, the local campaign director for the opposition coalition.

Two voters were killed in Boko Haram attacks on polling stations in the twin Gombe towns of Birin Bolawa and Birin Fulani, according to police. Witnesses said the gunmen yelled that they had warned people to stay away from polling.

In four other northeast towns in Yobe state, gunmen drove in and fired into the air, frightening people to flee into the bush and disrupting any voting, police said.

Thousands of people, among more than 1.5 million forced from their homes by the Islamic uprising, lined up to vote at a refugee camp in Yola, capital of northeast Adamawa state and home to as many refugees as its 300,000 residents.

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Nigerians wait for to register before voting in Jere, some 60 kilometers (40 miles) from the capital …

Refugee Elzubairu Ali does not know when she will be able to return to her home.

"We have to wait for the time when the Nigerian army will totally wipe them (Boko Haram) out before we can go back," she said after voting.

Yola resident and university lecturer Abdullahi Sani said, "I'm longing for a change, a positive change to affect the life of humanity, to protect their reputation, their lives and property . and to eradicate corruption finally."

The failure of Jonathan's administration to curb the insurgency, which killed about 10,000 people last year, has angered Nigerians in the north.

International outrage has grown over another failure — the inability to rescue 219 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram nearly a year ago. The extremists have abducted hundreds more people since then, using them as sex slaves and fighters.

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An elderly Nigerian woman validates her voting card using a fingerprint reader, prior to casting her …

Nervous foreign investors are watching as Nigeria is Africa's largest destination for direct foreign investment though its oil-dependent economy is hurting from slashed petroleum prices.

The Islamic uprising has exacerbated relations between Christians like Jonathan, who dominate the oil-rich south, and Muslims like Buhari, who are the majority in the agricultural and cattle-herding lands of the north. The population of 170 million is almost evenly divided between Christians and Muslims.

Some 1,000 people were killed in rioting after Buhari lost to Jonathan in the 2011 elections. Thousands of Nigerians and foreign workers have left the country amid fears of post-election violence.

In 2011, there was no doubt that Jonathan had swept the polls by millions of votes.

Now the race is much closer. Results are expected 48 hours after voting ends. If no clear winner emerges, a runoff will be held.

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Umar reported from Maiduguri. Associated Press writers Jerome Delay in Kaduna, Shehu Saulawa in Bauchi, Adamu Adamu in Potiskum, Lekan Oyekanmi in Yola, Hilary Uguru in Port Harcourt, and Ben Curtis in Daura, also contributed to this report.

Associated Press Videos
Dispute Surrounds New Indiana Religious Law

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Hundreds of people, some carrying signs reading "no hate in our state," gathered Saturday outside the Indiana Statehouse for a boisterous rally against a new state law that opponents say could sanction discrimination against gay people.

Since Republican Gov. Mike Pence signed the bill into law Thursday, Indiana has been widely criticized by businesses and organizations around the nation, as well as on social media with the hashtag #boycottindiana. Local officials and business groups around the state hope to stem the fallout, although consumer review service Angie's List said Saturday that it is suspending a planned expansion in Indianapolis because of the new law.

The law's supporters contend discrimination claims are overblown and insist it will keep the government from compelling people to provide services they find objectionable on religious grounds. They also maintain that courts haven't allowed discrimination under similar laws covering the federal government and 19 other states.

But state Rep. Ed DeLaney, an Indianapolis Democrat, said Indiana's law goes further than those laws and opens the door to discrimination.

"This law does not openly allow discrimination, no, but what it does is create a road map, a path to discrimination," he told the crowd, which stretched across the south steps and lawn of the Statehouse. "Indiana's version of this law is not the same as that in other states. It adds all kinds of new stuff and it moves us further down the road to discrimination."

The measure, which takes effect in July, prohibits state laws that "substantially burden" a person's ability to follow his or her religious beliefs. The definition of "person" includes religious institutions, businesses and associations.

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Thousands of opponents of Indiana Senate Bill 101, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, gathered o …

Angie's List had sought an $18.5 million incentive package from Indianapolis' City-County Council to add 1,000 jobs over five years. But founder and CEO Bill Oseterle said in a statement Saturday that the expansion was on hold "until we fully understand the implications of the freedom restoration act on our employees."

Saturday's crowd, for which police didn't have an exact estimate, chanted "Pence must go!" several times and many people held signs like "I'm pretty sure God doesn't hate anyone" and "No hate in our state."

Zach Adamson, a Democrat on Indianapolis' City-County Council, said to cheers that the law has nothing to do with religious freedom but everything to do with discrimination.

"This isn't 1950 Alabama; it's 2015 Indiana," he told the crowd, adding that the law has brought embarrassment on the state.

Among those who attended the rally was Jennifer Fox, a 40-year-old from Indianapolis who was joined by her wife, Erin Fox, and their two boys, ages 5 and 8, and other relatives.

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Indiana State Representative Christina Hale addresses the crowd during the rally. Thousands of oppon …

Fox said they married last June on the first day that same-sex marriage became legal in Indiana under a federal court ruling. She believes the religious objections law is a sort of reward to Republican lawmakers and their conservation Christian constituents who strongly opposed allowed the legalization of gay marriage in the state.

"I believe that's where this is coming from — to find ways to push their own agenda, which is not a religious agenda; it's aimed at a specific section of people," Fox said.

Although many Indianapolis businesses have expressed opposition to the law and support for gays and lesbians, Fox worries her family could be turned away from a restaurant or other business and that her sons would suffer emotionally.

"I certainly would not want them to think that there's something wrong with our family because we're a loving family," she said.

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, a Republican who opposed the law, said he and other city officials would be talking to many businesses and convention planners to counter the uproar the law has caused. "I'm more concerned about making sure that everyone knows they can come in here and feel welcome," Ballard said.

The Indianapolis-based NCAA has expressed concerns about the law and has suggested it could move future events elsewhere; the men's Final Four will be held in the city next weekend.

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Associated Press writer Tom Davies contributed to this report.

Moscow (AFP) - Vandals Saturday destroyed an improvised memorial created by supporters of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov on the bridge where he was shot a month ago, the Echo of Moscow radio station reported Saturday.

Supporters had regularly refreshed flowers and candles on the bridge next to the Kremlin where the 55-year-old former deputy prime minister and prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin was gunned down on February 27.

Early Saturday, around 10 men in black clothing hurriedly stuffed flowers, photographs and candles into rubbish sacks leaving the bridge bare, a video shot from a passing car and published on social media showed. Despite the proximity to the Kremlin, police did not intervene.

"They raked up all the old and new flowers, candles and photographs," Natalya Pelevina, a member of the liberal RPR-Parnas party that Nemtsov co-chaired, wrote on Twitter.

"They did it all very quickly and came at 2 am. Following orders, of course. It's vile and low."

Later on Saturday morning Nemtsov's supporters came to place fresh flowers, photographs and Russian flags at the spot, the chief editor of Echo of Moscow, Alexei Venediktov, wrote on Instagram.

It was the second attack on the memorial. Last week activists from a little-known nationalist group scrawled over a sign placed by supporters at the spot saying "Nemtsov Bridge" and left a note denouncing Nemtsov for his support for the pro-Western uprising in Ukraine. They then posted photographs of their actions on Facebook.

Russia has detained five suspects in the murder, accusing them of carrying out a contract hit, but has revealed few details of the investigation.

Investigators have suggested that the crime is linked to Nemtsov's support for French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo's publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed, a claim rejected by his allies as absurd.

The prime suspect in the killing, former Chechen police officer Zaur Dadayev, initially confessed to the crime but later told a member of the Kremlin's rights council that he had been tortured into doing so.

Beirut (AFP) - Syrian government forces apparently executed at least 15 prisoners in the city of Idlib before Islamist fighters overran the provincial capital, a monitor said on Sunday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the bodies of at least 15 detainees had been found after the northwestern city was taken by a coalition of forces including Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate Al-Nusra Front.

"The number of bodies found in a military intelligence detention facility in Idlib city has risen to 15," the Britain-based group's director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

The group had earlier reported the discovery of at least nine bodies believed to be prisoners executed by regime forces before they withdrew from the city.

Al-Nusra released a video on Twitter showing fighters from the group discovering the bodies in a prison in Idlib.

At least nine bodies of prisoners were visible in a single dark cell, five of them lying side-by-side, and several partially covered in blood.

It was unclear how the men had been killed.

The discovery came after a coalition of Islamist fighters seized full control of Idlib on Saturday, on the fifth day of fighting for the city.

The grouping, known as the Army of Conquest, brings together jihadists from Al-Nusra with Islamist allies including the powerful Ahrar al-Sham organisation.

The capture of Idlib makes the city only the second provincial capital in Syria to have fallen from regime control, after the March 2013 loss of Raqa city.

Raqa was captured by various rebel groups that were subsequently ousted from the city by the Islamic State jihadist group.

IS has since made the city the de facto Syrian headquarters of the Islamic "caliphate" it has declared in territory under its control in Syria and Iraq.

With Idlib's capture, Al-Nusra and its allies control most of the northwestern province, though regime forces maintain a presence in two additional cities, as well as the Abu Duhur military airport and several military bases in the region.

Last November, Al-Nusra and allied forces ousted a series of Western-backed rebel groups from Idlib after announcing plans to establish an Islamic "emirate" that analysts say is intended to rival IS's "caliphate".

The city's capture was welcomed by the main opposition National Coalition, which said it represented "an important victory on the road to the full liberation of Syrian territory".

Without making reference to the composition of the forces that captured Idlib, the Coalition said it had "confidence" that they would protect civilians and abide by international law.

It said Idlib's capture only reinforced the need for international action to defend against regime aerial attacks.