General Salim Idriss, head of the Free Syrian Army, denied saying that his forces would fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham or cooperate with regime forces in doing so. Pope Francis called for prayers for 12 nuns taken by armed men from a convent in Maaloula; the nuns are said to be detained by the Al Nusrah Front in the rebel-held city of Yabroud. A suicide car bomber detonated at a checkpoint in Hama, and Islamic battalions clashed with regime forces at that checkpoint and another in the province. ISIS, Al Nusrah, and Islamic battalions clashed with regime forces in Reef Dimashq. ISIS detained 34 Kurdish civilians, including children, in the Minbej city area. Gunmen kidnapped and killed a leader of Aleppo’s military council. Al Nusrah, ISIS, and Islamic factions are battling regime forces in Aleppo. ISIS displayed its banners on two churches in Raqqah two months after Tunisian ISIS fighters took over the churches and destroyed their contents. Al Nusrah released video of its siege on the 38th Brigade in Deraa in March.
