09/01/2014 09:11
Qaeda group loses HQ in Syria's Aleppo, journalists freed
Syrian rebels overran the Aleppo headquarters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), as claims emerged that the Al-Qaeda linked group had massacred prisoners there in cold blood, AFP reported.
The rebels were on Wednesday reportedly also pressing ISIL in Raqa, the only provincial capital lost by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and a stronghold of the group.
In Damascus, a security source told AFP the infighting benefited Syria's regime, calling it a settling of scores by nations backing different rebel groups.
The operation in Aleppo came a day after ISIL's spokesman threatened to "crush" opposition fighters who have attacked the group in several provinces.
"There are hardly any ISIL members left in the city of Aleppo," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Elsewhere, a diplomat announced two Swedish reporters missing in Syria since November had been freed.
And the fractious Syrian opposition National Coalition said it was postponing until January 17 a final decision on whether to attend peace talks in Switzerland.
On the ground, ISIL battled moderate and Islamist rebels in clashes that first erupted on Friday and have killed at least 385 people, including 56 civilians.
ISIL’s headquarters in a hospital in Aleppo’s Qadi Askar neighbourhood was overrun by opposition fighters, who reportedly freed dozens of prisoners.
But a video posted online Wednesday claimed ISIL had previously executed at least nine prisoners after handcuffing, blindfolding and shooting them in the head.
The Coalition denounced “these acts, which perpetuate the regime’s methods to kill free voice, suppress liberty and violate… fundamental human rights.”
Late Tuesday, ISIL spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani issued a defiant message, urging fighters to “crush them (the rebels) totally and kill the conspiracy at birth.”
“None of you will remain, and we will make of you an example to all those who think of following the same path,” he added.
Adnani also warned that ISIL had declared war on the Coalition and chiefs of the opposition Free Syrian Army.
“Everyone who belongs to this entity is a legitimate target for us, in all places, unless he publicly declares his rejection of that group and of fighting the mujahedeen (jihadist fighters).”
His message came hours after the head of Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, Al-Nusra Front, urging an end to the fighting.