ALEPPO, Syria — Syria's rebels are currently building up their troops in the northern countryside of Aleppo, as there have been talks about a possible imminent attack by the Islamic State (IS). On April 7, the group carried out two suicide attacks targeting two locations of the Sham Front — a unification of former forces including the Jaish al-Mujahedeen and the Islamic Front among others — in northern Aleppo.

The two bombings that took place simultaneously in the town of Marea and the village of Hawar Killis left 31 fighters dead among the rebels, including Yahya Hafez (aka Abu Maryam), a leader with the Sham Front.

Entering Marea was not easy. After the two explosions, the rebels' checkpoints on the town’s outskirts are thoroughly scrutinizing the IDs of the people coming in. People who are not residents of the town or who do not have an official reason to be there are not allowed to enter. This raises the question about the lax security measures in the rebel-controlled areas, and how it was possible for a truck loaded with tons of explosives to go past the checkpoints heading for the Sham Front leadership.

A day after the bombing in Marea, Hussein Abu Mahmoud, a journalist in the Sham Front, accompanied Al-Monitor to the bombing site, where a funeral for the fighters who were killed in the explosion was being held in front of the group’s heavily damaged headquarters. Mourners shouted slogans vowing revenge on IS as the dead were being buried in a nearby cemetery.