Syrian Islamist Forces Gain in Aleppo
Divisions among Syrian opposition groups may be hindering Geneva II.
Edward Dark (a pseudonym for a Syrian activist living in Aleppo) reported on the deepening rift between Syrian opposition groups in Aleppo.
Dark, who has provided a rare, inside view of life in Aleppo for Al-Monitor readers, describes divisions between groups associated with the National Council of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces and the Free Syrian Army (FSA), on the one hand, and Islamist groups, those backed by Gulf countries and those affiliated with al-Qaeda, on the other.
The rifts have evolved from skirmishes into all-out battles for control, with the al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic state of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), gaining the upper hand. Dark explains:
“That the coalition calls for a democratic civil state, whereas the Islamist rebels call for an Islamic Sharia state, may be a red herring. More likely the issue at hand is one of a simple power struggle. The rebels were unnerved by the coalition's recent moves to appoint Ahmad Saleh Touma as head of an opposition government, which would start administering the regions of Syria outside the regime's control.
