Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Western-Backed Syria Rebels Shaken on Multiple Fronts

During a key battle in the rugged mountains of northern Idlib province this month, US-backed Syrian rebels collapsed before an assault by Al Qaeda fighters. Some surrendered their weapons. Others outright defected to the militants.
Accounts of the battle from opposition activists underscore how the moderate rebels that Washington is trying to boost to fight groups such as Jabhat Al Nusra and ISIL are instead haemorrhaging on multiple fronts.
Jamal Maarouf, the head of the moderate rebel group Syrian 
Revolutionaries Front, in Idlib province, northern Syria. 
AP Photo / Edlib News Network ENN
They face an escalated assault by the Islamist extremists, which activists say are increasingly working together to eliminate them. At the same time, a string of assassinations has targeted some of their most powerful commanders. “This is the end of the Free Syrian Army,” said Alaa Al Deen, an opposition activist in Idlib, referring to western-backed rebel groups. “It’s the beginning of an Islamic emirate.”
Thousands of Syrian rebels have died fighting ISIL this year, a war that has overshadowed and undermined the struggle to topple president Bashar Al Assad. Now Al Nusra – Al Qaeda’s branch in Syria, which previously was also fighting against ISIL – has turned on more moderate factions.
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