Al Qaeda-linked group attacks Western-backed rebels in Syria

PanARMENIAN.Net -

The al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front attacked Western-backed rebels in northern Syria on Friday, July 31, rebel groups and an organization monitoring the war said, escalating tension between rival insurgents near the Turkish border, Reuters reports.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the monitoring group, also reported that warplanes believed to be part of a U.S.-led alliance had bombed Nusra Front positions in the area near the town of Azaz, north of Aleppo city.

The fighting, which the Observatory said had killed at least 13 people on both sides, points to one of the major complications facing U.S. and Turkish plans to jointly sweep Islamic State militants from northern Syria.

The Nusra Front, one of the most powerful insurgent groups in northern Syria, has a track record of crushing rebel groups that have received support from Western states, including the Hazzm movement that collapsed earlier this year, according to Reuters.

Opposition sources say that one of the rebel groups targeted in Nusra's overnight attack, Division 30, has been a participant in the newly launched U.S.-led program to train and equip insurgents to fight Islamic State.

Division 30 says Nusra fighters abducted its leader and several other members earlier this week. The Pentagon has said however that no members of the "New Syrian Force" had been captured or detained.

Division 30 said Nusra Front fighters attacked its headquarters at 4.30 am in the area near Azaz. Five members of Division 30 were killed as they held off the attackers, it said. The group has accused the Nusra Front of abducting its leader and several other members earlier this week.

Another rebel group in the area said it had also clashed with Nusra Front in Azaz.

Jaish al-Thuwar, a rebel alliance formed earlier this year said in a statement posted on Facebook on Friday four of its members and at least eight attackers had been killed.