HAIDER
ELITE MEMBER
- Joined
- May 21, 2006
- Messages
- 33,771
- Reaction score
- 14
- Country
- Location
Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists in Syria have begun an offensive against former allies, wrestling moderate FSA rebels out of the controlled areas. With the US assault on Syria postponed, radical Islamists are seeking ultimate authority to fight Assad.
The latest news coming from the north of Syria suggests that a series of clashes between the former allies have already left a number of casualties and a change of the operational situation in the Syrian civil war.
The FSA leaders have recently acknowledged that clashes between their brigades and Islamist rivals have reached boiling point.
Last weekend, the very same day Russias FM Sergey Lavrov and the US Secretary of State John Kerry hammered out an agreement on Syrias chemical weapons disarmament, the clashes between FSA associates and the most notorious jihadist groups operating in Syria, the al-Nusra front and the ISIL, were reported by the Daily Beast.
Islamists attacked first, by blowing up the brother of a commander of the Allahu Akbar Brigades, a local FSA group. In retaliation the group launched a counter offensive, killing four jihadists.
On Wednesday militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized the town of Azaz controlled by the anti-Assad Storm of the North Brigade, affiliated with the Free Syrian Army, some five kilometers from the Syrian-Turkish border. Five FSA fighters reportedly died in clashes, with over 100 people taken hostage.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has seized complete control of Azaz. They are in control of the town's entrances, Abu Ahmad, an activist inside Azaz, told the AFP news agency.
The shootout in Azaz began after ISIL gunmen attempted to detain a German doctor who has been working as a volunteer at a private hospital in Azaz, accusing him of taking photos of their positions. The doctor managed to escape and is safe now, Rami Abdul-Rahman told the Associated Press, the head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. But as a result of the clashes FSAs Northern Storm Brigade has had to withdraw from Azaz.
The ultimate goal of the jihadists must be a crossing at Bab Al Salama on the Syrian-Turkish border, currently controlled by the FSA. The Bab Al Salama is one of the few still operable crossings used by the Syrian opposition to deliver weapons, fighters and humanitarian aid from neighboring Turkey.
Local activist Abu Louay al-Halabi told Al Jazeera that By taking Azaz, the Islamic State is a step closer to controlling the crossing. Its objective seems to be taking over the whole countryside north of Aleppo.
In yet another shootout, fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group clashed with FSAs Rasoul group rebels and drove them out of the town of Raqqah in Syrias north last Wednesday, reported Lebanons Daily Start last week. In this town that fell out of Assads control last March, the jihadists stick to the same modus operandi they detonated a car bomb killing two FSA commanders.
After a fierce fight at Rasoul group headquarters, the FSA militants had to withdraw to Turkish territory.
Read more:http://rt.com/op-edge/jihadists-syria-clash-moderate-arming-076/
The latest news coming from the north of Syria suggests that a series of clashes between the former allies have already left a number of casualties and a change of the operational situation in the Syrian civil war.
The FSA leaders have recently acknowledged that clashes between their brigades and Islamist rivals have reached boiling point.
Last weekend, the very same day Russias FM Sergey Lavrov and the US Secretary of State John Kerry hammered out an agreement on Syrias chemical weapons disarmament, the clashes between FSA associates and the most notorious jihadist groups operating in Syria, the al-Nusra front and the ISIL, were reported by the Daily Beast.
Islamists attacked first, by blowing up the brother of a commander of the Allahu Akbar Brigades, a local FSA group. In retaliation the group launched a counter offensive, killing four jihadists.
On Wednesday militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized the town of Azaz controlled by the anti-Assad Storm of the North Brigade, affiliated with the Free Syrian Army, some five kilometers from the Syrian-Turkish border. Five FSA fighters reportedly died in clashes, with over 100 people taken hostage.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has seized complete control of Azaz. They are in control of the town's entrances, Abu Ahmad, an activist inside Azaz, told the AFP news agency.
The shootout in Azaz began after ISIL gunmen attempted to detain a German doctor who has been working as a volunteer at a private hospital in Azaz, accusing him of taking photos of their positions. The doctor managed to escape and is safe now, Rami Abdul-Rahman told the Associated Press, the head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. But as a result of the clashes FSAs Northern Storm Brigade has had to withdraw from Azaz.
The ultimate goal of the jihadists must be a crossing at Bab Al Salama on the Syrian-Turkish border, currently controlled by the FSA. The Bab Al Salama is one of the few still operable crossings used by the Syrian opposition to deliver weapons, fighters and humanitarian aid from neighboring Turkey.
Local activist Abu Louay al-Halabi told Al Jazeera that By taking Azaz, the Islamic State is a step closer to controlling the crossing. Its objective seems to be taking over the whole countryside north of Aleppo.
In yet another shootout, fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group clashed with FSAs Rasoul group rebels and drove them out of the town of Raqqah in Syrias north last Wednesday, reported Lebanons Daily Start last week. In this town that fell out of Assads control last March, the jihadists stick to the same modus operandi they detonated a car bomb killing two FSA commanders.
After a fierce fight at Rasoul group headquarters, the FSA militants had to withdraw to Turkish territory.
Read more:http://rt.com/op-edge/jihadists-syria-clash-moderate-arming-076/
