More than 1,000 militants killed in Syria infighting
Iran Press TV
Thu Jan 16, 2014 2:53PM GMT
The infighting among al-Qaeda-linked militants and armed opposition groups has claimed more than 1,000 lives over the past two weeks.
The so-called Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday that at least more than a thousand people, mostly militants, were killed during clashes and executions since infighting broke out between the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and other opposition groups as of January, 1, 2014.
The opposition source said the dead included 130 civilians, 21 of them were killed by the ISIL militants at a hospital in Aleppo.
It added that 608 of those killed were foreign-sponsored militants who had joined the so-called Free Syrian Army's front against ISIL militants.
Some 312 of the dead were the al-Qaeda-affiliated militants and the remaining 19 were unidentified, the observatory added.
The infighting erupted when the Free Syrian Army (FSA) launched an offensive mainly in northern Syria against al-Qaeda-linked militants.
It accused al-Qaeda militants of systematic abuses in areas under their control.
The battles among militants are said to have strengthened the view among their Western backers that they cannot be a genuine alternative for the Syrian government.
Earlier on Thursday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a statement that a soaring number of executions in Syria's north could amount to war crimes.
Crisis has gripped Syria since March 2011. According to statistics released by the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have been killed and millions displaced due to the turmoil.
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