By David Ignatius
The Daily Star
STORY SUMMARY
Syria’s opposition warns of a rise in extremists
Syrian opposition leaders report an alarming growth within their ranks of fighters from Jabhat al-Nusra, an extremist group linked to Al-Qaeda.
Jabhat al-Nusra now has somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 fighters, according to officials of a non-governmental organization that represents the more moderate wing of the Free Syrian Army. They say that the Al-Qaeda affiliate now accounts for 7.5 percent to 9 percent of the Free Syrian Army’s total number of fighters, up sharply from an estimated 3 percent just three months ago and 1 percent at the beginning of the year.
In Deir al-Zor, to the northeast, the extremist group has about 2,000 of the Free Syrian Army’s total force of 17,000, according to the reports.
In the chaos of the Syrian battlefield, smaller battalions drawn from neighborhoods or small towns are combining forces with larger groups of fighter to form brigades, many of them led by extremists.
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
Categories: Arab World, Asia, Syria