A train travels through Aleppo's devastated eastern districts for the first time in more than four years, yesterday. It is the train's first such trip since rebels overran east Aleppo in the summer of 2012, effectively dividing the northern city into a re
Beirut: Al Qaeda-linked militants attacked a prison Wednesday where its fighters are held by other Syrian rebels in escalating violence in northern Syria after Russian-led talks urged mainstream insurgents to break with the extremists.
The infighting, some of the worst in recent years, is likely to weaken the rebellion but also could help isolate the extremist group. The fighting pits the al-Qaida-linked Fatah al-Sham Front against several other groups, including its former ally, Ahrar al-Sham, one of the most powerful insurgent organizations in Syria's nearly 6-year-old civil war.
Some of the rebels involved in the fighting were represented at talks this week in Astana, Kazakhstan, which were brokered by Russia and Turkey and aimed at shoring up a shaky Dec. 30 cease-fire with President Bashar Assad's forces. The talks brought the armed rebel factions face-to-face with Assad's representatives for the first time.
The two-day talks ended Tuesday with an agreement among Russia, Turkey and Iran to consolidate the cease-fire, take joint action against extremist groups and jumpstart peace negotiations.
Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, said that if the al-Qaida-linked group comes out on top in the fighting, the rebels would be more inclined to cooperate with calls for dissociating with its militants.
