Syria rebels clash with jihadists in Aleppo

Syrian Islamist rebels in an opposition-held area of Aleppo fought jihadists Friday, amid tensions between local dissidents and a powerful Al-Qaeda affiliate, activists said. Activists meanwhile accused the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Al-Qaeda-linked group, of opening fire on protesters in a rebel town in northwestern Syria. "A number of opposition battalions... united under the name 'Army of the Mujahideen' fought fierce battles against ISIL around Atareb" in the province of Aleppo, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a broad network of activists and doctors across Syria for its reports, also said at least four ISIL members were killed in the fighting. Activists said a number of local rebel groups were involved in the fighting against ISIL, and distributed an amateur video apparently showing "the detention of an ISIL member who was fighting the (rebel) Free Syrian Army in Atareb." The video could not be authenticated. A second video filmed in Idlib's opposition-held Kafr Takharim showed protesters running through the street as the sound of gunfire echoed in the background. The Observatory and activists accused ISIL militants of opening fire against the protesters, who had taken to the streets to chant anti-regime slogans as they have on every Friday since the outbreak of Syria's uprising in March 2011. The reports come amid soaring tensions between ISIL and much of the rest of Syria's opposition, including Islamists. "I'd say about 90 percent of people in the opposition areas are against ISIL," said Abu Leyla, an Idlib-based activist. "They use violence and abuses to crush dissent. They are only Islamist in name. All they want is power, and I think everyone knows that. "What is good is that today we have seen other fighters actually facing them. God willing, they will be out of these areas soon," he told AFP via the Internet. In Syria's second city Aleppo, protesters took to the streets to denounce both President Bashar al-Assad's regime and ISIL, which has been accused of kidnapping and assassinating activists and rebels who oppose them. " Free Syrian Army forever! ISIL and Assad (are one)," chanted the demonstrators in a video distributed by the Observatory. Syria's revolt began as a peaceful Arab Spring-inspired movement demanding the end of the Assad family's four-decade rule. It grew into a full-blown insurgency after Damascus unleashed a brutal crackdown against dissent. Foreign fighters, including jihadists, soon flocked to Syria to fight alongside the rebels. While the jihadists were welcomed at first, "their abuses have made it impossible for them to stay here. We want freedom, not ISIL," said Abu Leyla. Source: AFP