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AL QAEDA-LINKED GUNMEN REPORTEDLY CAPTURE TOWN NEAR TURKISH BORDER
September 19, 2013 - 11:37 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - A Syrian activist group says al Qaeda-linked gunmen
have captured a town near the Turkish border after heavy fighting
with a rebel group.
According to the Associated Press, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights says members of the Islamic State in Iraq and the
Levant stormed the town of Azaz, forcing members of the Northern
Storm Brigade to withdraw.
Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Observatory, said Thursday, Sept
18, that the clashes broke out when ISIL fighters tried to detain a
European doctor they accused of taking pictures of their positions
in the area. The German doctor escaped and is in a safe location,
Abdul-Rahman said.
Abdul-Rahman said three rebels and two jihadis were killed in the
fighting that broke out Wednesday and continued until after midnight.
A surge of clashes in Syria's oil-producing northeast has killed
dozens of rebels and Kurdish fighters last week.
Syrian Kurdish militants, particularly the armed wing of the Democratic
Union Party (PYD), have repeatedly clashed with opposition fighters led
by al Qaeda-linked units in the region as government forces retreated
over the past year.
The Kurdish PYD's military wing blamed al Qaeda-linked groups for the
latest violence, saying fighters from the Nusra Front and Islamic
State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) attacked a string of Kurdish
villages in Hasaka province.
Heavy artillery and tanks were used, it said.
Estimates of the numbers killed varied. The Britain-based Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said at least 35 rebels and 13 Kurdish
fighters had died over the last two days.
Rebels accuse their Kurdish opponents of collaborating with Assad's
forces to secure autonomy - although activists said disputes over
resources and territory were a bigger factor in recent clashes.
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/170185/
September 19, 2013 - 11:37 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - A Syrian activist group says al Qaeda-linked gunmen
have captured a town near the Turkish border after heavy fighting
with a rebel group.
According to the Associated Press, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights says members of the Islamic State in Iraq and the
Levant stormed the town of Azaz, forcing members of the Northern
Storm Brigade to withdraw.
Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Observatory, said Thursday, Sept
18, that the clashes broke out when ISIL fighters tried to detain a
European doctor they accused of taking pictures of their positions
in the area. The German doctor escaped and is in a safe location,
Abdul-Rahman said.
Abdul-Rahman said three rebels and two jihadis were killed in the
fighting that broke out Wednesday and continued until after midnight.
A surge of clashes in Syria's oil-producing northeast has killed
dozens of rebels and Kurdish fighters last week.
Syrian Kurdish militants, particularly the armed wing of the Democratic
Union Party (PYD), have repeatedly clashed with opposition fighters led
by al Qaeda-linked units in the region as government forces retreated
over the past year.
The Kurdish PYD's military wing blamed al Qaeda-linked groups for the
latest violence, saying fighters from the Nusra Front and Islamic
State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) attacked a string of Kurdish
villages in Hasaka province.
Heavy artillery and tanks were used, it said.
Estimates of the numbers killed varied. The Britain-based Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said at least 35 rebels and 13 Kurdish
fighters had died over the last two days.
Rebels accuse their Kurdish opponents of collaborating with Assad's
forces to secure autonomy - although activists said disputes over
resources and territory were a bigger factor in recent clashes.
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/170185/