500 Killed in Syria Rebel-Jihadist Fighting
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Nearly 500 people, among them at least 85 civilians, have been killed in a week of fighting pitting Syrian rebels against jihadists in the north of the strife-torn country.
The fighting raged as Western governments that back the revolt against President Bashar Assad prepared to intensify pressure on the opposition to participate in peace talks with the regime planned for later this month.
A new front opened last Friday in Syria's nearly three-year-old war, when powerful massive rebel groups combined to attack bases and checkpoints of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
While the jihadists were initially welcomed by other rebels, allegations of brutal abuses against civilians as well as rival opposition fighters sparked a backlash, and even accusations that they were serving the interests of the regime.
"We have documented the killing of 482 people in the fighting -- 85 civilians, 240 members of the rebel brigades and 157 members of ISIL," said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman.
Among the civilians and rebels killed were 42 hostages who were executed in Aleppo by ISIL.
Rebels also executed 47 ISIL members, mainly in Idlib province in northwestern Syria, Abdel Rahman said, adding that dozens more were believed to have been killed in the fighting.
He called for "crimes being committed in Syria to be brought before an international court."
On Friday, rebels continued to advance in much of Aleppo and Idlib provinces, where ISIL's presence was relatively weak, while the jihadists had the upper hand in Raqa, which has been under their control for several months.
ISIL has its roots in al-Qaida in Iraq, and first appeared in the Syrian conflict in spring last year.
Civilians have suffered massively as a result of the latest fighting, activists say.
"In Aleppo city, people are trapped in their houses, unable to fetch medicine or food for fear they will get shot by snipers if they go outside," said anti-regime activist Alaaeddine.
"In Raqa, the situation is even worse," he added.
Despite the "numerical advantage" of Syria's rebels, "ISIL will not be forced out of Syria altogether," according to analyst Charles Lister, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Center.
"It will maintain operations, but likely in a far more independent manner, and sometimes in opposition to other rebel groups."
ISIL has already carried out several deadly car bombings against rival rebel groups in recent days, particularly in Aleppo and Idlib.
Protesters meanwhile took to the streets Friday, as they have every week since the start of the revolt in March 2011, this time chanting slogans against both Assad and ISIL.
In the northern town of Binnish, protesters chanted: "Syria is free, free! ISIL, get out!" They also held up posters that read: "Bashar Assad is our main enemy."
Elsewhere in the country, the Observatory said at least 41 people had died of hunger or because of lack of medical care since September in the Palestinian Yarmuk camp south of Damascus.
The camp has been under a tight regime siege that has led to food and medicine shortages for some 20,000 people trapped inside.
The U.N.'s agency for Palestinian refugees has warned about the situation in the camp, with UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness describing "extreme human suffering."
The International Committee of the Red Cross said Friday that its chief was in Damascus to push for greater access for the group across the country.
"Our activities have expanded significantly over the last year, but we need to be allowed to do much more," said Peter Maurer, in a statement.
As the fighting continues, backers of the Syrian opposition have upped the pressure on dissidents to attend peace talks slated for January 22.
Speaking to Agence France Presse Thursday, veteran opponent and National Coalition member Samir Nashar said: "There are clear signs indicating the Coalition must go to Geneva."
The Coalition will meet on January 17 to decide whether to participate in the so-called Geneva 2 process, with large parts of the group opposed to attended.
The so-called Friends of Syria grouping of nations that back the opposition is expected to push for opposition participating at a Sunday meeting in Paris.
Syria's civil war has killed more than 130,000 people, and forced millions more to flee their homes.
10 January 2014, 13:06
174
'this shows that ISIL and the FSA were initially, one and the same.'
fsa, isil and JAN are 3 different things. FSA and the syrian people were in need and welcomed those fighters, thinking they came to fight and help them. Then they realized that ISIL was abusing the people, not fighting much the regime but was actually in connivance with Assad in some areas(cf agreement about not attacking pipelines and military bases in the east).
10 January 2014, 14:16
517
They were, ISIL were welcomed with open arms at the start of this conflict, but when the FSA and the other Al Qaeda groups realized, that ISIL were more powerful than their own fighters, they started working against them, because the opposition is afraid that ISIL will take over if Assad falled.
10 January 2014, 14:18
516
It's not going so well for the opposition, they are indeed fighting a loosing battle, either ISIL or Syrian Army will destroy them first.
10 January 2014, 14:20
516
This conflict will probaly end with the opposition diminished, and still a few ISIL terrorists fighting.
10 January 2014, 17:45
163
Yes, because I was talking about the SNC and whatever other groups are pretending to represent the FSA/IF.
10 January 2014, 17:46
163
Changes are made on the ground with AK47 rounds and artillery shells, FT. Not in the comfortable chairs of UN conferences.
10 January 2014, 22:51
06
poor saudislave, saying the same words that were said 3 years ago, and never happened.
10 January 2014, 14:53
113
m14 since 1956 ??? take it easy with captagon man.
Where did u learn history ? In Qom ?
10 January 2014, 15:07
64
Cedre. M14 started in 2005 BC in the ancient city of Berytus. Freshen up your history.
10 January 2014, 15:22
182
hey! What happened to my Comments!!! Naharnet!!!
@sagh AND your point!!! i AGREE WITH YOU!!! READ MY COMMENTS Better next time...
part of what i said '... Arabs and Persians
One been played with in the open...the other in secret...
or is it Visa Versa...?'
10 January 2014, 16:38
163
what did u post ? was waiting for u to deny assad-isil connection...
Btw any news from benzona ? miss him..
11 January 2014, 01:02
40
1- very strange escape from sednaya and abu grayb since 2011
2- agreement on oil and some bases in the east
3- both fighting fsa
4- some places occupied for months by isis were never bombed, but since they lost positions last week and fsa retook it, it's bombed again
5-since 2009, maliki and us claiming assad train and arm isis
6-ID found on dead takfiris with alawite place of birth or iranian/russian visa
etc....
10 January 2014, 16:58
166
This only proves that ASSAD is behind the infiltration of terrorist groups in his own country to sabotage the opposition.
He has done so in Lebanon for so long too including helping with the establishement of terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Fath el Islam ...
FT, your illusion is crumbling !
10 January 2014, 19:15
153
"One cannot rationally dissociate the Syrian regime from terrorism. Syria provides safe haven for a myriad of terrorist organizations, directs their operations, and uses occupied Lebanon as their main field of training and operation. Terrorist organizations do not stand on their own in terms
of identity; instead, they are proxies to regimes that provide them with financial means and an operational framework for their terrorist activities. The suggestion heard in some circles that these regimes can be charged with the task of dismantling terrorist organizations is the height of naiveté and folly. Furthermore, let's not forget that the clandestine nature of these regimes and organizations would allow them to quickly
and easily restructure and reemerge under completely new
aliases, ready to resume operations in full capacity."
michel aoun US senate...
10 January 2014, 19:15
153
Many international Al-Qaeda plots have Syrian links. The head of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain, which claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings in Casablanca in May 2003, trained in Syria.The prosecutor in the trial of the terrorists who attacked Madrid in 2004 suspects Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain member Hassan el-Haski of involvement in the train bombings.In May 2004, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's lieutenants and, perhaps Zarqawi himself, held meetings on Syrian territory to plan terrorism in Iraq aimed at provoking sectarian violence.Syria harbored and refused to extradite Suleiman Khaled Darwish, Zarqawi's second-in-command and, reportedly, a liaison between Al-Qaeda and Syrian military intelligence. (He was finally killed in October 2008 in a U.S. raid on Syrian territory).
http://www.meforum.org/2406/damascus-supporting-terrorists
10 January 2014, 19:15
153
"The Assad regime sponsors terrorism because it is a regime based on terrorism. The advantages for the Assad regime to sponsor jihadists are many. They seek to use terrorists to defeat the United States in the region, thwart the development of democracies in Lebanon and Iraq, and to employ terror as a means of waging war against Israel. Outmatched by the weapons the West possesses, Syria repeatedly turns to unconventional means. Terror sponsorship also creates a dependency upon the Assad regime making it counterproductive for the forces of Islamic extremism to wage war against it. So long as Assad retains a tight grip on Syria, he need not fear these forces turning against him."
10 January 2014, 19:20
153
"Furthermore, let's not forget that the clandestine nature of
these regimes and organizations would allow them to quickly
and easily restructure and reemerge under completely new
aliases, ready to resume operations in full capacity.
Any perceived cooperation in the war on terrorism does not
represent a strategic choice on the part of the Syrian regime to
combat terrorism; it is only a tactical and temporary ploy to
dodge responsibility for the central role that Syria has had in
sponsoring terrorism during the last three decades."
but i guess in M8ers minds that assad stopped using these terrorists groups now all of a sudden in the wors moments of his reign! LOL
poor naive brainwashed blind hezbi follower sheep they are....
11 January 2014, 03:14
20
FT - there has always been a good level of collaboration in military operations between al nusra and some of the rebel groups. The relations were tense with ISIS since the beginning and especially since ISIS acted in a predatory fashion. In the Jihadist circles, there has always been a debate on the purpose of the Jihad: al-Nusra (nusrat al-mazloumeen and then a Da'wa) and the state (those who wants to impose their version an islamic state regardless the desire of the people). Al Nusra seem to belong to the first strand (time will tell) and ISIS to the second.
10 January 2014, 17:31
172
@sagh,
You seem to know a lot about making pointless posts. Is this because your entire Alawite Ba'ath 3asheera will soon be pointless, in the sense that you will be living in Moscow or Tehran? We at Abu Bakr Research Center are interested in where you will be traveling after Tartus is conquered by the FSA. Moscow is quite cold, but I think you will have a better time finding a job since the economy in Iran is not so good at the moment.
10 January 2014, 18:47
00
"500 Killed in Syria Rebel-Jihadist Fighting." Or, as GabbyMarch14 and other no-electricity bill-payers and statisticians continue to confirm to us, the "ASSad" regime will collapse again for the 8,362nd time come next Wednesday. Any doubts? Just listen to the farts that they listen to and their stink they follow: Dr. Arreet 7akeh and cheikh Saad al-Haribi Telteyn al-Marajil! Open the windows, please. They're suffocating.
10 January 2014, 19:12
144
Southern - your support of the criminal Assad regime reeks of sectarianism. There is no other way to justify support for a sectarian regime that kills its people wholesale.
10 January 2014, 20:05
162
May god bless the FSA, let them beat ISIS and bashar rapido. We should support them because they are not radicals fighting in God's name unlike Qaeda, isis, hizballa and the other terroristas.
10 January 2014, 20:30
163
The roots of ISIS go back to Oct. 15, 2006, when what is known as the Islamic State of Iraq was established. That groups was formed by uniting several groups, most notably al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Mujahedeen Shura Council in Iraq, and Jund al-Sahhaba.. Most of those were non-Syrian jihadists...
Humm, but how did they get into Iraq
Sep 22, 2009 BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Tuesday Iraq had almost no hope of receiving counter-terrorism cooperation from neighbouring Syria and he unequivocally rejected Arab offers to mediate... 90 percent of foreign "terrorists" who infiltrate Iraq do so via Syria... "From the beginning, we did not expect to receive a response from Syria to the Iraqi demands," Maliki said in a statement, referring to his request that a list of terror suspects said to be hiding in Syria be handed over.
