Two of the biggest Jihadist organizations operating in Syria – the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) and the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” – are now at odds once again after disengaging one another for an extended period of time in the Rif Dimashq and Aleppo Governorates of Syria.
The jihadist organizations began restarted their feud in southern and western Syria, despite cooperating with one another during ISIS’ Yarmouk Camp offensive in March and April of 2015 that resulted in the terrorist group taking control of three quarters of the district before they were pushed back towards the city of Hajjar Al-Aswad.
As of recently, the fighting between the two Jihadist organizations has intensified as ISIS has launched a large-scale offensive in northern Aleppo that has targeted the Levantine Front’s (Nusra allies) strongholds at the border-city of ‘Azaz and Mar’e, resulting in the capture of Sawran and a number of other villages on the Turkish border.
ISIS has now captured a number of points from the Levantine Front (Also known as “Jabhat Al-Shamiyah”) at the city of Mar’e; this has forced the militants from the Levantine Front to call on reinforcements from southern Aleppo and Idlib to help push back the enemy combatants from ISIS – it has been to no avail.
To counter ISIS’ success in the north, Jabhat Al-Nusra captured the village of South Qaseer and Al-Shajrah Al-Mushayrfah from the ISIS affiliated “Liwaa Shuhada Al-Yarmouk” militants on Monday morning after a series of fierce clashes in the southern part of the Dara’a Governorate.