Syria's al-Qaeda branch and allied fighters from ultraconservative rebel factions on Wednesday, May 11 seized a village of President Bashar al-Assad's minority Alawite sect in central Syria, following fierce clashes with government troops, the Associated Press reports.

The capture of Zaara, which was reported by activists and Syrian state media, is sparking fears of an outbreak of sectarian violence as activists say many families from the village are missing.

The development came as the International Red Cross was expected to deliver the first aid in almost four years to a cut-off Damascus suburb besieged by government forces.

The International Committee of the Red Cross was to bring humanitarian relief to Daraya in cooperation with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the United Nations, said ICRC spokesman Pawel Krzysiek. It would be the first aid sent to rebellious Daraya since November 2012. The UN estimates the suburb's current population is between 4,000 and 8,000 people, AP says.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group tracking the conflict, said families disappeared from Zaara after the militants overran the village. Along with Syria's al-Qaeda branch known as the Nusra Front, other hard-line factions that took part in the raid on Zaara included Ahrar al-Sham and Faylaq al-Rahman.

Syrian state media said "terrorists" killed a number of townspeople and abducted others, adding that they looted and destroyed many homes in Zaraa.