Al Qaeda's Strategy In Syria Is To Advance One Town At A Town

Al Qaeda Advancing In Syria, One Town At A Time -- CNN

(CNN) -- Al Qaeda fighters in Syria have seized another town on the border with Turkey, consolidating their grip on a swath of northern Syria.

The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) took control of the town of Atimah at the end of last week, further tilting the balance away from more moderate factions of the Free Syrian Army.

If ISIL's record elsewhere is any guide, the people of Atimah can expect the imposition of strict Islamic customs, with women and girls being coerced to dress more conservatively and Sharia, or religious, courts being established to dispense justice.

Opposition activists say ISIL has cut down a famous landmark -- an ancient oak tree -- near Atimah. The militants claimed people had been worshipping the tree rather than God, an allegation rejected by locals, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

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My Comment: Al Qaeda has the weapons, the will, the manpower .... and now access to resources and money. With each passing day they are becoming a stronger force that will not be easy to defeat.