Sky’s Stuart Ramsay meets an increasingly influential group which says jihad is spreading and will not stop at Syria.
By Stuart Ramsay, Chief Correspondent
The number of Jihadist groups flooding into Syria two years after the start of the uprising is threatening to eclipse the power of mainstream opposition groups as well as the authority of the Free Syrian Army.
One of the increasingly influential groups, Jabah al Haq (The Front for Justice), told Sky News that Jihad is spreading across North Africa and the Middle East and will not stop at Syria but will include Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and even Israel.
The frontline in the Battle for Aleppo is constantly changing. You know when you are there; the people disappear.
In these parts of the city only fighters are on the streets, in battered buildings and destroyed alleyways.
There is nothing left anymore. It is a frightening kill-zone. The sounds of rockets crunching into buildings, the whistle of high velocity rounds passing a few feet above your head, the scream of men shot by snipers never stops, or if it does, it is not for long.
The fighters on the rebel side are made up of a mish-mash of defected soldiers, the Free Syrian Army and a growing number of Jihadists; some are from Syria many are from abroad.
Jabah al Haq men took us to their front weaving their truck passed blown up cars, and homes; passed streets with huge tarpaulin sheets strung across to give protection from government snipers.
They were worried about us filming their positions and arguments caused by our presence rumbled on for the whole time we were there.
Abu Obaeda, a former soldier with a sniper rifle hung over his back, described the front as ‘cold’ with little real fighting. But even as he spoke machine gun fire drowned him out. A man was hit and his comrades were organising a truck to speed him away while attacking the government forces.
When I asked how far away they were he laughed.
“In which direction?” he said. “They are 25 metres in front and 20 metres on either side. We can only go back; but we wont,” he added.
They wouldn’t say how many men they had but said they were fighting 200 government soldiers supported by as many government militia, the Shabiha.
The chaos of the front lines is now reflected in the make up of the groups doing the fighting.
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Categories: Arab World, Asia, Syria, Uncategorized
