A pro-Assad gunman holds a position at a military airport held by Syrian troops and pro-regime militias in the northeastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor on December 12, five days after they repelled an attack by militants. AFP Photo
Posted on 12/20/2014 2:39:32 PM PST by SunkenCiv
A fragile truce was holding on Syria's southern front on Tuesday after Jabhat Al Nusra killed a senior commander in a western-backed rebel group, accusing his faction of being sleeper agents for ISIL.
Mousab Ali Qarfan, who also went by the name Mousab Zaytouneh, was a leading figure in the powerful Shuhada Al Yarmouk Brigades. He was killed by the Al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra in Sahem El Golan, along with three other fighters from his group, on Monday.
The Yarmouk Brigades are part of the western-affiliated rebel alliance, still commonly referred to as the Free Syrian Army (FSA), which have been supported by the Military Operations Command (MOC) in Amman.
According to opposition sources monitoring Al Nusra, and information published on social media by activists close to the Al Qaeda affiliate, senior Al Nusra commanders believed Zaytouneh was secretly in league with the extremist militant group ISIL.
The Yarmouk Brigades are headed by Mohammad Al Baridi, known as Al Khal. They operate in southern Syria, including suburbs of Damascus. The unit headed by Zaytouneh operates in the south-west region of Deraa province, near the borders with Jordan and Israel.
There have been persistent rumours in rebel circles that various FSA brigades have secretly aligned themselves with ISIL, although none have been publicly named.
Moderate rebel commanders on the southern front denied the allegations about Al Khal, some saying the killing was part of an effort by Al Nusra to weaken a strong moderate rebel front.
Others said the claims of an ISIL connection were part of a psychological warfare programme by forces loyal to President Bashar Al Assad, seeking to divide and weaken rebels as they make steady advances in the south.
(Excerpt) Read more at thenational.ae ...
A pro-Assad gunman holds a position at a military airport held by Syrian troops and pro-regime militias in the northeastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor on December 12, five days after they repelled an attack by militants. AFP Photo
I must have missed that booth on career day.
So many factions, disparate groups in Syria, one could easily lose his head before making a decision as to which one to join....
More than 60 units of the Free Syrian Army that operate in the south recently broke off from the main military and political command, which is backed by the US and the West... At least one of the groups listed has recently fought with the Al Nusrah Front. In September, the Yarmouk Brigade teamed up with the Al Nusrah Front and the Aknaf Bait al Maqdis, or Defenders of Jerusalem, another jihadist group allied with al Qaeda that operates in Daraa, to overrun a border crossing point with Jordan. And in March, the Al Nusrah Front fought alongside the Yarmouk Brigade and stormed an air defense base and military checkpoints, effectively putting them in control of a 25-kilometer stretch of the border from the Golan to Jordan... List of groups that defected from the Free Syrian Army and the Syrian National Coalition this week: ...Shuhada al Yarmouk Brigade...
And who the hell can make any sense of all those freaking names? Why are they of any interest to us, normal people and how are they different from, let’s say, cockroaches???
Cockroaches can’t wear boots and crush each other.
Very grim conditions in southern Syria.
That can even be said of pretty much anywhere in the Middle East outside the borders of Israel. :’) Guess it must be their fault. ;’)
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