Members of al-Jabha al-Islamiya (the Islamic Front) man a checkpoint between the village of Kafaroumeh and the town of Maaret al-Naaman, to prevent members of the al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from advancing towards Jabal Al-Zawiya, in Idlib January 6, 2014. REUTERS/Fadi Mashan

The rebel-on-rebel fighting in Raqqa — a stronghold of the al-Qaida-linked group known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant — reflects a widening war within a war in Syria, this one against radical extremists.

Since spring 2013, the group has muscled its way into rebel-held territory across northern Syria, crushing resistance from other factions, seizing their weapons and detaining their fighters.

The fighting has since spread to the central province of Hama as well as the northeastern province of Raqqa, and killed an estimated 100 fighters on both sides, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights activist group.

Activists said another al-Qaida-linked rebel group, the Nusra Front, was taking part in the fighting in Raqqa against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. However, Abdurrahman said many of the Nusra Front fighters in Raqqa had joined the group from other rebel outfits that had collapsed in the face of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.

Read more: http://dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Jan-07/243300-syrian-rebels-fight-with-al-qaida-group-spreads.ashx#ixzz2phZns3vs
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)