A Syrian al-Qaida affiliate has ordered its fighters to disengage from battles against Islamic State (Isis) in parts of the country where Turkey intends to create a “safe zone”.
The directive, which was published online on Monday, said the Nusra Front would refrain from fighting Isis in a swath of northern Syria in order to avoid indirectly aiding the US-led campaign against the terror group as Nusra Front see this act as unIslamic.
Last month, the US-led coalition was given permission to use Turkish territory to strike Isis, and on Sunday six F-16 fighter jets and 300 personnel arrived at the Incirlik air base.
US-trained Syrian rebels refuse to fight al-Qaida group after kidnappings
The Nusra Front also urged other rebel groups not to cooperate with the coalition, to take a broader strategic view of the battlefield and to rank their enemies.
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But the order leaves other opposition groups, particularly in Syria’s former commercial capital of Aleppo, vulnerable to Isis advances, and further complicates the intricate web of insurgent politics in a civil war that rages on four years after the rebellion against Bashar al-Assad began.
“We announce our withdrawal from the battle fronts against [Isis] in northern Aleppo’s countryside,” Nusra said in the statement. “We in the Nusra Front disallow entry into this coalition, whether by fighting in its ranks or seeking its assistance or even through coordination.”
Nusra pledged to continue fighting Isis in other areas of Syria, and said the plannedTurkish intervention was not aimed at strategically changing the battlefield but rather was a result of Turkish national security concerns over the creation of a Kurdish state.
The directive, which was published online on Monday, said the Nusra Front would refrain from fighting Isis in a swath of northern Syria in order to avoid indirectly aiding the US-led campaign against the terror group as Nusra Front see this act as unIslamic.
Last month, the US-led coalition was given permission to use Turkish territory to strike Isis, and on Sunday six F-16 fighter jets and 300 personnel arrived at the Incirlik air base.
US-trained Syrian rebels refuse to fight al-Qaida group after kidnappings
The Nusra Front also urged other rebel groups not to cooperate with the coalition, to take a broader strategic view of the battlefield and to rank their enemies.
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But the order leaves other opposition groups, particularly in Syria’s former commercial capital of Aleppo, vulnerable to Isis advances, and further complicates the intricate web of insurgent politics in a civil war that rages on four years after the rebellion against Bashar al-Assad began.
“We announce our withdrawal from the battle fronts against [Isis] in northern Aleppo’s countryside,” Nusra said in the statement. “We in the Nusra Front disallow entry into this coalition, whether by fighting in its ranks or seeking its assistance or even through coordination.”
Nusra pledged to continue fighting Isis in other areas of Syria, and said the plannedTurkish intervention was not aimed at strategically changing the battlefield but rather was a result of Turkish national security concerns over the creation of a Kurdish state.
posted from Bloggeroid
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