Syrian government forces fighting to keep President Bashar al-Assad in power ambushed and killed at least 62 rebels near Damascus on Wednesday.

This news comes just a day after rebels captured the vitally important Menagh airbase in the Aleppo province.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reports that the rebels were members of the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group, and quotes a military source as saying that all members of the group were killed, and that there were foreign fighters (non-Syrians) among the dead.

The Associated Press (AP) reports that while at least 62 rebels were killed, as of yet there have been no reported government casualties.

Mohammed Saeed, an activist based in Damascus, where the attacks occurred, told AP that 65 rebels were using a secret 30 kilometer (19 mile) road to get from the eastern suburbs of the capital to Qalamoun, and "[t]he regime forces riddled them with heavy machine gun fire" after discovering the road the rebels were using.