Free Syrian Army fighters help a fellow fighter, who was injured during fighting near Qabasin town, northern Syria, Jan. 12, 2017.
VOA: Rebel Infighting in Northern Syria Intensifies
Clashes between rebel groups and their onetime al-Qaida-linked ally, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, have intensified in northern Syria with the jihadists accusing their former allies of having entered into a conspiracy against them.
The infighting, which erupted Tuesday as Russian-mediated peace talks were ending inconclusively in the Kazakh capital, Astana, has become a struggle for mastery between the jihadists and more moderate Islamist and secular-based groups in what is left of rebel-controlled territory in northwest Syria.
One of the triggers for the fighting are recent highly precise U.S.-led coalition airstrikes that killed more than 100 jihadist fighters in Syria.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: These Syrian rebels are uniting after this .... Jihadists crush Syria rebel group, in a blow to diplomacy (Reuters).
More News On Syrian Rebel Groups Uniting To Fight Against Jihadists
Syria war: Rebels unite after attack by Idlib jihadists -- BBC
Syrian rebels unite in battle against jihadi militants -- Financial Times
Fighting intensifies in northern Syria -- News.com.au
Syrian opposition factions join Ahrar al-Sham -- Al Jazeera
Syrian Islamist rebels band together to repel hard-line jihadist attacks – report -- RT
ANALYSIS: Why Fateh al-Sham is lashing out at Syrian rebels -- Alex MacDonald, Middle East Eye
In the absence of a strong man, the radicals always rise to the top...Maybe Albright can vie for a leadership position.
ReplyDeleteIt may be to early to tell but it seems things could be coming together here. In the past few days, we've had an American representative meet with Assad apparently at the request of the Trump team, Russia has signed a long term base deal with the Syrian government, Mr. Trump has agreed to establish safe zones for those fleeing ISIS and other like minded groups, and the rebels may be in the process of uniting to fight ISIS. While I may be mistaken, I think these events are all related.
ReplyDeleteRussia gets he base they wanted, which they were going to get anyway. Assad gets to remain in power, which was going to happen anyway. Both Assad and Russia get most if not all of what they wanted. The rebels unite to fight ISIS, Al Qaeda, and other like minded groups which is what everyone wants. Since this is what everyone wants and the rebels may be close to agreeing to unite, Russia, the United States, and Syria may be about to unite forces to defeat this enemy in Syria once and for all and the people trying to get away from ISIS get safe zones. In exchange the rebels may be getting some degree of autonomy as long as they recognize Assad's ultimate control. while I can't be certain, I'm pretty team Trump's representative made it abundantly clear in meetings via the US representative that the US is not going to back the removal of Assad. Not sure where this leaves Iran.
As stated, this analysis could be wrong. We will have to wait and see how things unfold. Hopefully all involved are coming together in a constructive fashion to defeat ISIS, Al Qaeada, and other like minded groups.
LMAO,
ReplyDelete"their headquarters and confiscated their CIA supplied weapon and ammunition caches. One major alliance of local groups, the Army of Mujaheddin, was eliminated. Other local groups took refuge by joining Ahrar al-Sham:
SOHR was informed that the factions of Soqor al-Sham, alMOjahdin Army, Eqtasim Kama Amart grouping, al-Islam Army in Idlib and the Shamia front in western Aleppo, joined Ahrar al-Sham Islamic faction against Fateh al_Sham front
It seem that the plan for now is to keep Ahrar al-Sham as a "moderate" front group for al-Qaeda while eliminating all other "moderate" forces on the ground. Parts of Ahrar al-Sham take part in the Turkish "Euphrates Shield" operation against the Islamic State while al-Qaeda in Syria is no longer openly supported by the Turkish state.
The ruse of the claimed fight between Ahrar and al-Qaeda is used to uphold a distinction between these groups even when hardly any exists. Ahrar al-Sham was, like al-Qaeda in Syria, founded by a senior member of al-Qaeda central under command of the al-Qaeda's central leader Ayman al-Zawahiri."
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/01/al-qaeda-consolidates-its-front-groups-in-syria.html#comments
Kind of scary...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Mh7zC3HO3U