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Syria's Al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front and other Sunni militants fought during the night to capture two Shiite villages in the country's north but were repelled, activists on both sides of the war said Friday, Reuters reported.

The insurgents were briefly able to control streets in the southern part of Zahra and buildings in the nearby village of Nubl, north of Aleppo city, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The militants, who used tanks, were pushed back from both areas by the National Defense Force, a grouping of loyalist militias under the umbrella of the army, it said.

Pro-government activists published photos on social media that they said showed the bodies of Nusra Front fighters in a ditch near the villages. Reuters could not confirm the authenticity of the photos.