Al Qaeda headquarters in Aleppo ‘has not fallen yet’

Al Mujahideen Army and other rebel groups have not controlled the main headquarters of the Islamic State of Iraq and The Levant (ISIL) in Kadi Askar in Aleppo, Zaman Alwasl reporter said.

The reporter assured that fierce clashes took place today between Al Tawhid brigade and Al-Qaeda-liked group ISIL in the embattled city of Aleppo.

More than 274 people have been killed in the rebel-on-rebel clashes in Syria since they began last Friday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition monitoring group.

In relevant development, the head of Al Nusra Front, Abu Mohamed Al Golani, called on Tuesday for a ceasefire between opposition factions who have clashed for five days in the bloodiest bout of infighting since the revolt against Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.

“This unfortunate situation has pushed us to launch an initiative to save the battlefields from being lost. This will be done by forming an independent legal council by all the (rebel) factions in addition to a ceasefire,” Golani said.

Rebel groups, many of them also hardline Islamists, last week launched what appeared to be a series of coordinated strikes against Isil in northern and eastern Syria after months of increasing tensions with the group, which has alienated many Syrians in rebel-held regions.

The tension between rebels fighting to overthrow Mr Al Assad is also a problem among the political opposition, which has yet to decide on the composition of the delegation it will send to the peace conference in Switzerland on January 22.