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[04 Nov 2013] Syria insurgent commander in Aleppo quits - English

Hundreds of Syrian refugees, fleeing insurgent infighting, have entered the Turkish border town of Akcakale. The residents of the Syrian border town of Tel Abyad in the northeastern province of Raqqah fled their homes after fierce infighting between al-Qaeda-linked militant groups. Turkish authorities closed the border crossing in Tel Abyad after the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant captured the town earlier this week. Up to 100 insurgents from another al-Qaeda-linked group, the Nusra Front, have been captured and shot dead by ISIL militants in the town. The rise of infighting between rival militant groups in Syria comes in the run-up to an international peace conference on Syria, known as Geneva two.

[11 Apr 2014] Dozens killed in insurgent infighting in Iraq - English

[22 May 2014] Syrian army breaks insurgent siege on Aleppo\'s main prison - English

Syria\'s grand Mufti Sheikh Ahmed Badreddin Hassoun says at least two-thousand Russian citizens are currently fighting along foreign-backed insurgent inside Syria. Sheikh Hassoun made the remark during a visit to the Islamic University of Moscow. Hassoun said from the beginning of the unrest in Syria more than two-thousand Russian nationals, mostly of Chechnya origin, have moved to Syria to fight the government there. He\'s added that a large number of those people have been killed so far and Damascus estimates that some 1300 of them are still operating inside Syria. According to Syria\'s grand Mufti, most of those Russian nationals are from North Caucasus and citizens of Commonwealth of Independent states.

Military offensives as a prelude to a diplomatic breakthrough: the Syrian army is shaking the self-confidence of western-backed insurgent groups by taking control of more lands. Areas which were previously in the hands of those trying to bring down the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Syrian forces are only few miles away from a very big gain: To take control of the western Qalamun region near the border with Lebanon. The following report tells us why the region is of high importance to Syria\'s future diplomatic efforts.

[10 June 2014] Infighting among insurgent groups in Syria left over 630 militants dead - English

In Syria, insurgent groups continue to fight one another. A group calling itself the Islamic Front has killed and captured a number of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant insurgents in the town of Al-Nairab. The Islamic Front, which is the biggest insurgent alliance, had earlier announced that it would fight against the group. Earlier in the day, Al-Qaeda-linked militants killed at least 50 rival insurgents. The insurgents were killed in attacks, car bombings, and summary executions by militants loyal to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as the ISIL. It was the third day of infighting, which began when militants of the so-called Free Syrian Army attacked checkpoints and bases manned by the ISIL. Previously, the clashes were mostly in the northern provinces of Aleppo and Idlib, but opposition sources say the fighting has now spread to the east.

Infighting between rival insurgent groups is raging on in Syria. Opposition sources say that foreign-backed militants have seized the headquarters of al-Qaeda-linked insurgents in the northern city of Aleppo. The sources added that members from several insurgent groups have taken control of a children\'s hospital in Qadi Askar district that is the headquarters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Aleppo. Meanwhile, other reports from Syria say at least 20 militants have been killed in a car bomb near the northern city of Dakoush. The attack was reportedly carried out by militants from the I-S-I-L. The recent tension among militant groups fighting the Syrian government has been the deadliest since the conflict began in the war-torn country back in March 20-11.

In Syria, at least two people have been killed in insurgent shelling of the city of Idlib. At least five mortar shells landed near a university in the northwestern city. One of the victims was a student and the other a passerby. At least 17 others were also injured in the attack. Mortar attacks are the hallmark of insurgents in Syria. Only on Monday, about a dozen people were killed in a mortar attack on a government stronghold in the northern city of Aleppo.

Foreign-backed militants continue their attacks on residential areas in Syria. The insurgent shelling of the Meridian district of the northern city of Aleppo killed several civilians on Wednesday. They also captured the area of Adra, northeast of the capital Damascus. More than 20 civilians, mostly Alawites, are said to have been killed in the militant attack there. This is while, Kurdish People\'s Protection Units have recaptured the north-eastern village of Tweineh, near al-Hasakah city, following clashes with militants of the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front. In recent days, some regional and international leaders have warned of growing extremism in Syria. This, as insurgents fighting the Syrian government enjoy the logistical and financial supports of Western and some regional Arab countries.

Rival insurgent groups continue to fight each other in syria. In the latest development, the so-called Free syrian Army has seized a compound held by al-Qaeda-linked militants in syria\'s northwest. Opposition sources say the F-S-A insurgents seized the compound after chasing fighters loyal to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Aleppo\'s Manjib town. The I-S-I-S militants reportedly used car bombs for the first time to defend the compound. The foreign-backed battle against the syrian government has turned into full-scale infighting in recent days. The al-Qaeda-linked group has suffered huge losses in two days of fighting against an alliance of militant groups in Aleppo and Idlib provinces. Dozens from both sides have been killed in clashes since Friday.

Battle lines in Syria are being redrawn. Foreign backed insurgents are turning their guns on each other. It\\\'s becoming increasingly clear that what was continually portrayed by the West as a growing sectarian conflict is actually Al Qaeda becoming more active in Syria. Join us in this edition of the debate as we try to find out the root causes behind this infighting, the ever growing presence of Al Qaeda, and what lies ahead for Syria and the region.

Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents have executed seven militants from a rival group in Syria. This unverified video shows the al-Qaeda-linked militants shooting Hassan Jazera, the commander of the insurgent group Ghurabaa al-Sham and six of his men in the head. Divisions among insurgents have been deepening in recent months. And the groups have engaged in many deadly clashes in different parts of Syria. Several insurgent commanders have been killed on both sides during the fighting.

[03 Nov 2012] Syria\'s feast of sacrifice - Middle East - English

Clashes have erupted between Syrian army forces and foreign-backed militants in the suburbs of the country\\\'s largest city, Aleppo, Press TV reports. Syrian army forces clashed with militants as they advanced from three directions to liberate the city and cut off insurgents supply lines in the north, a Press TV correspondent reported from Syria on Monday. Army troops have also managed to block an insurgent assault on the Minnegh air base and Aleppo\\\'s Central Prison. The Syrian army launched a major operation to clear the northwestern city of Aleppo of the foreign-backed militants on Sunday. The Syrian army has scored victories against the militants in recent days, liberating the strategic towns of Qusayr, Qunaytirah and Daba\\\'a in the west. Qusayr was an important center and supply route for the armed groups

[08 Sept 2013] Egypt boosts security in north of Sinai - English

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports that around one thousand families have fled from a battle in central Syria to the Lebanese border town of Arsal. The UNHCR says the families were forced to walk more than 30 kilometers to reach safety. The refugees have reportedly fled from the strategic al-Qalamoun area in the north-east of Damascus. The Syrian army is fighting militants there to cut supply lines to insurgent-held areas near Damascus. Activists say fighting has intensified in the mountainous region. Lebanese officials say around 1-point-4 million Syrians have taken refuge in their country so far.

Christians in Syria are criticizing Western media outlets for ignoring atrocities carried out by Takfiri terrorist groups against their community. A new report by the news service of the Pontifical Mission Societies highlights the massacre of 45 Christians in the village of Sadad near Damascus. The killing has been the biggest massacre of Christians in the Syrian conflict which began two-and-a-half years ago. The report blames the foreign-backed Takfiri militants for the massacre while criticizing the U-S government and its mainstream media for remaining silent. Christians say they are fleeing their homes as the persecution is worsening in insurgent-held territories in the north. They say kidnapping, rape and executions of Christians are being carried out by Takfiri militants and those affiliated with the Western-backed Free Syrian Army.

Christians in Syria are criticizing Western media outlets for ignoring atrocities carried out by Takfiri terrorist groups against their community. A new report by the news service of the Pontifical Mission Societies highlights the massacre of 45 Christians in the village of Sadad near Damascus. The killing has been the biggest massacre of Christians in the Syrian conflict which began two-and-a-half years ago. The report blames the foreign-backed Takfiri militants for the massacre while criticizing the U-S government and its mainstream media for remaining silent. Christians say they are fleeing their homes as the persecution is worsening in insurgent-held territories in the north. They say kidnapping, rape and executions of Christians are being carried out by Takfiri militants and those affiliated with the Western-backed Free Syrian Army.

Syrian army has retaken control of a town near the capital Damascus after fierce battles with foreign-backed insurgents. The battles raged on around Deir Atiyah in Qalamoun area that links Damascus to the central city of Homs and east of the capital. The Syrian army has launched a new round of mop-up operations. Clashes are also underway in Marj area near the capital. Some reports say, the army forces have killed at least nine insurgents in the area. Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since March 2011. Damascus accuses the West and its regional allies of fueling tension by providing the insurgents with money and weapons.

Foreign-backed insurgents in Syria are increasingly using kidnapping as a means to fund their activities in the northern city of Aleppo. Militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have been named as the main culprits in insurgent-controlled areas. A London-based opposition group says that 80-percent of kidnappings target activists and journalists. Only this week, two Swedish journalists were abducted by insurgents. The missing are a combination of foreign and Syrian journalists. 30 journalists are currently being held and 52 have been killed in the country since early 2011.

The leader of Lebanon\\\\\\\'s Hezbollah movement says Saudi Arabia was behind last month\\\\\\\'s twin bomb attack on the Iranian Embassy in Beirut. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah told a Lebanese TV channel that he has no doubt that the al-Qaeda affiliated group which claimed responsibility for the attack was linked to the Saudi intelligence agency. Nasrallah also noted that the blasts, which targeted the Iranian Embassy in south Beirut, were related to Saudi Arabia\\\\\\\'s anger toward Iran and its failure in Syria. Saudi Arabia has supported and funded the insurgent groups fighting against the Syrian government. The November 19 embassy bombings left 25 people dead and over a hundred and fifty injured.

Latest media reports from Syria say insurgents fighting against the government plan to use a group of nuns kidnapped from their convent in the town of Ma\'loula as human shields. The 12 Syrian and Lebanese nuns were kidnapped from a Greek Orthodox convent after the notorious al-Nusra Front militants took over parts of the Christian town. The nuns were then taken to Yabrud - a town under insurgent control north of Damascus. This, as Syrian forces have been deployed to the historic town to restore security there. The militants took over the town on Monday after rolling explosive-filled tires down the hills onto government forces, following three days of intense fighting. The kidnappings have drawn condemnation from the Vatican. Iran has also slammed the assault on the Christian religious site and called for the immediate release of the nuns. It\'s also urged the international community to take immediate action to prevent such criminal acts from taking place in the future.

The U-S and Britain have suspended military assistance to the so-called Free Syrian Army in northern Syria after al-Qaeda-linked insurgents seized the weapons depots belonging to the F-S-A there. The so-called Islamic Front, which is an umbrella group of al-Qaeda-affiliated rings, captured the arms depots of the Western-backed Free Syrian Army. The seizure near the Bab el-Hawa border crossing with Turkey came after the Islamic Front, which is backed by regional allies of the U-S, announced that it rejected the authority of the F-S-A command. The militant group was formed just last month when six insurgent groups merged together to try and create a new Islamic Emirate in the crisis-hit Arab country.

Syrian opposition sources say over 300 people have been killed in eight days of government airstrikes in the city of Aleppo. Press TV cannon verify the authenticity of the following footage. The opposition accuses Damascus of using TNT-filled crude barrels to bomb insurgent strongholds in the city. It says the tactic fails to distinguish between civilians and militants. The Syrian government has not yet commented on the accusations put forward by the opposition. Meanwhile, the main foreign-backed opposition, the so-called Syrian National Coalition says it will NOT attend planned peace talks in Geneva if government planes continue bombing Aleppo. The city\\\'s been split between insurgents and government forces since a massive militant assault in mid-2012. The army has recently intensified its offensive there to oust the foreign-backed insurgents.

The Syrian foreign minister has accused foreign supporters of insurgents of leaking information about the locations of the country\'s chemical weapons. Walid Moallem slammed the countries that help militants locate Syria\'s chemical weapons, saying Damascus holds such states responsible for the consequences of their actions. The Syrian foreign ministry also called on international organizations to take action and help stop these acts. It also noted that government forces have foiled two insurgent attacks on the locations of chemical weapons in central and southern Syria. Earlier this week, militants tried to storm two facilities that stored the countries\' chemical arms. They attempted to break into the facilities with an armored vehicle loaded with explosives.

Al-Qaeda-linked militants in Syria have killed at least 50 rival insurgents amid continued infighting among militant groups. Opposition sources say the insurgents were killed in attacks, car bombings and summary executions by militants loyal to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or I-S-I-L. Sunday\'s deaths came on the third day of infighting that began when militants of the so-called Free Syrian Army attacked checkpoints and bases manned by the I-S-I-L. The clashes have mostly centered in the northern provinces of Aleppo and Idlib. Opposition sources say the I-S-I-L militants summarily executed thirty of their civilian and non-civilian hostages after their base was surrounded by rival insurgents in the Harem district of Idlib province. Meanwhile, a group calling itself the Islamic Front, which is the biggest insurgent alliance in Syria, issued a strong warning to the ISIL militants, vowing to fight against the group.