Syrian Civil War -- News Updates January 13, 1014

Syria Rebels Turn Against Most Radical Group Tied to Al Qaeda -- New York Times

BEIRUT, Lebanon — As a government warplane soared over the northern Syrian city of Raqqa recently, a fighter from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the country’s most radical group linked to Al Qaeda, watched from behind an antiaircraft gun mounted on a pickup truck. Fighters and activists from rival insurgent factions urged him to fire. He did not.

The others were incredulous, recalled one, who supports the Nusra Front, a rival group that has Al Qaeda’s official stamp of approval as its representative in the fight against President Bashar al-Assad. But the man on the truck replied, “We are here to establish the Islamic state, not to fight Assad.”

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More News On Syria's Civil War

Nearly 700 killed in Syria rebel infighting -- CNN
Activists: Nearly 700 dead in Syrian rebel clashes -- Washington Post/AP
Jihadists seize Syria town, execute 60 -- Global Post/AFP
Al Qaeda Syria unit executes dozens of rivals in Raqqa: activists -- Reuters
Al-Qaida-linked group ousts rivals from Syria town -- Washington Post/AP
700 killed in Syria rebel-jihadist battle: activists -- Daily Star/AFP
Syrian troops push towards Aleppo city -- Al Jazeera
Syrian troops advance on Aleppo area -- Global Post/AFP
Assad's forces kill dozens of rebels in Homs city -- Reuters
Mortar Attack in Central Syria Kills at Least 19 -- AP
The U.N. Has Stopped Counting, But Syrians Keep Dying -- NPR
UN concerns mount over besieged Syrians -- BBC
Fighting halts polio vaccination in northern Syria -- Reuters
US ship ready to destroy Syria’s weapons -- The Hill
Iran, Syria Foreign Ministers to Visit Moscow This Week -- RIA Novosti
Syrian opposition under pressure to attend Geneva peace talks -- The Guardian
Kerry "confident" that opposition groups will attend Syria talks -- Reuters
What Syrian rebel infighting means for Assad -- Nicholas Blanford, Christian Science Monitor
Has the Syrian conflict exhausted all parties? -- Abdulrahman al-Rashed, Al Arabiya
Graffiti to civil war: 3 years of Syrian turmoil -- Washington Post/AP