Syrian rebels seize border post after fierce battle Bulent Kilic / AFP - Getty Images Syrian rebels stand next to their vehicle after seizing control of the Bab al-Hawa border post with Turkey on July 20, 2012. 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. Syrian rebels were still in control of the main Abu Kamal border post on the Euphrates River highway, one of the major trade routes across the Middle East, a senior Iraqi interior ministry official said on Friday. The border crossing was seized by rebels following a fierce battle with Syrian troops, an Agence France Presse photographer at the scene reported. Carcasses of burnt-out lorries at the Bab al-Hawa border post with Turkey are seen on July 20, 2012 after it was seized by Syrian rebels following a fierce battle with Syrian troops. A broken picture of former Syrian president Hafez al-Assad, Bashar al-Assad's father, is seen at the Bab Al-Hawa border gate after clashes between Syrian rebels and the Syrian army on July 20, 2012. Syrian rebels walk at the entrance to a building of the Bab al-Hawa border post on July 20, 2012.