Al Qaeda fighters ‘gaining ground’ in civil war in Syria

Syria's main Western-backed opposition group today condemned al Qaeda-linked fighters and their expanding influence in the civil war.

The Syrian National Coalition said that the jihadis were seeking to establish an Islamic state in Syria.

It comes after days of vicious infighting in which the extremists seized control of the northern town of Azaz from mainstream fighters. Members of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, killed several fighters from the Free Syrian Army rebel umbrella group. The SNC said in a statement that the actions of the al Qaeda-linked fighters near the Turkish border “counter the principals that the Syrian revolution is trying to achieve”.

It also warned that the Islamic fighters were “strengthening their positions” in opposition-controlled areas. The statement came as President Bashar Assad’s deputy said the government would soon call for a ceasefire with rebels as they have reached a stalemate. Qadri Jamil told The Guardian that neither side was strong enough to win the two-year conflict that has so far claimed 100,000 lives. “Neither the armed opposition nor the regime is capable of defeating the other side,” he said. “This zero balance of forces will not change for a while.”

He added that the Syrian economy had collapsed, losing about £62 billion during the war. Mr Jamil said they would call for ceasefire at a long-delayed conference in Geneva. But leaders of the opposition have repeatedly refused to negotiate unless Assad resigns.