AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian rebels seized a town near the Iraqi border in the eastern oil producing province of Hasakah on Thursday, taking a main defensive position from forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad on the road to the provincial capital, rebels said.

Omar Abu Laila, a spokesman for the eastern command of the rebel Free Syrian Army, said rebel units including fighters of the al Qaeda-linked Nusra front were now in control of al-Shaddadeh, 46 km (30 miles) south of Hasakah city, after overrunning state security and military intelligence compounds.

(Reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis, Amman newsroom; Editing by Kevin Liffey)