Syria Rebels Lay Siege to Qaida-Linked Jihadists in Raqa
Syrian rebels laid siege to jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in their northern stronghold Monday, hoping to crush the al-Qaida affiliate accused of widespread abuses.
A broad coalition of moderates and Islamists opposed to President Bashar Assad is seeking to drive ISIL -- which is accused of kidnapping, torturing and killing rival rebels and civilians -- from its stronghold in the northern city of Raqa.
The new front in Syria's increasingly complex civil war cracked open less than three weeks away from a planned peace conference, for which the United Nations has started sending out invitations, excluding Assad's ally Iran.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebels in Raqa managed to free 50 Syrian prisoners held by the Sunni extremists, who are believed to be holding hundreds of prisoners, including foreign journalists.
Raqa is the only provincial capital lost by the regime since the start of the conflict, which began in March 2011 with peaceful protests demanding democratic reform but escalated into a full-blown war when Assad's forces launched a brutal crackdown on dissent.
The city later fell into the hands of ISIL, the latest incarnation of al-Qaida's Iraq affiliate, which joined the fight against Assad's regime in late spring 2013.
The rebels initially welcomed the battle-hardened jihadists, but tensions mounted as ISIL was accused of imposing a reign of terror in areas where it operates, especially Raqa.
Three powerful rebel alliances on Friday launched what activists called a second "revolution," and have advanced quickly, expelling ISIL from checkpoints and bases across Aleppo, Idlib and Hama provinces.
The Observatory said the main group besieging ISIL's Raqa headquarters is al-Nusra Front, which is also affiliated with al-Qaida but is seen as less extreme and has long competed with ISIL to represent the global terror network in Syria.
ISIL has struck back, including with a car bombing at a rebel checkpoint in Darkush, Idlib that killed an unknown number of fighters on Monday, according to the Observatory, a Britain-based group that relies on a network of sources inside the war-torn country.
A key complaint among the rebels fighting ISIL is that the self-styled Islamic state sought hegemony over areas under its control, while activists and rights groups accused it of torturing and killing its rivals, including with public executions.
On Monday, the body of a decapitated child was found near ISIL's headquarters in Kafranbel, Idlib, the Observatory said.
The war on ISIL, while welcomed by many in the opposition, threatens to distract from the battle with Assad's forces, which have continued to bombard rebel-held areas.
In rebel-held Bazaa in Aleppo province, an air raid killed 10 people including three children, the Observatory said.
The raid was the latest in a regime air campaign against Aleppo that killed some 550 people from December 15 to January 2, according to the monitoring group.
The Syrian conflict is estimated to have claimed more than 130,000 lives, and has forced millions more to flee their homes.
A security official in Damascus told Agence France Presse the fighting between the rebels and ISIL was "expected, and will become more violent."
Source: Agence France Presse
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