The Patriot Post® · Warfront IN Jihadistan: Syrian Rebels Fight Each Other

Further muddying the waters in Syria, rebel forces seem to have turned their guns on each other. When radical Muslims began to make up a growing part of the opposition, this infighting became inevitable. Indeed, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a spinoff of al-Qaida in Iraq, began a new campaign last week that it calls “Expunging Filth,” and their target is the U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA), not Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Estimates place the ISIL at 7,000 - 10,000 strong, and units are taking over territory in northern and eastern Syria.

If the splintering becomes a pattern, the Syrian civil war will truly become a battle of three armies. “[ISIL] are not rebels anymore; from this point, they are terrorists now,” according to Louay Almokdad, political and media coordinator for the FSA. “We are fighting two terrorist teams on two fronts; one al-Assad regime and Hezbollah militia and the Iranian revolutionary guards and the other the extremists al-Qaida, ISIL.” Of course, it was the FSA that welcomed them in the first place.

There is evidence that the growing jihadi presence is a pattern, as foreign jihadis (such as those from Pakistan) flock to the battlefield for a larger Sunni holy war that dates back hundreds of years. This development is problematic for the U.S., which has begun arms shipments to the rebels with the intent of aiding pro-Western factions against Assad while keeping arms out of the hands of jihadis. On the bright side, if the fighting lines between the jihadis and the so-called “moderates” become more clear, at least the U.S. will be able to tell them apart.

Finally, Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil said that the civil war in Syria has reached a stalemate and the government may soon call for a ceasefire. “Neither the armed opposition nor the regime is capable of defeating the other side,” he said. Stay tuned.