Anti-Regime Terror Groups Fighting Syrian Regime Have Turned on Each Other

The bizarre balance of terrorist groups joining forces with the combatants in the Syrian civil war is, as many predicted, causing scores of casualties as the fighters turn their guns and suicide bombers loose on each other. According to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights which monitors the conflict, a group known as Jund Al-Aqsa turned on former ally Fatah Al-Sham, an Al-Qa’ida product, and killed nine of its members with a suicide bomber sent to its headquarters in Idlib. In the fighting that ensued and spilled over into Hama, the death toll passed 70, including casualties from skirmishes and executions. Other armed clashes with other groups have left many more dead since the start of the year. The Observatory’s director, Rami Abdel Rahman, told the French news agency AFP that it’s a “battle between warlords; it’s a war for influence.” Over all, more than 310,000 Syrians have died since the civil war began in 2011, and millions have been displaced from their homes and sent into exile in neighboring countries.