Militants of The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have summarily executed 30 fighters of the Islamic Front and Al-Nusra Front in Al-Shola village in Deir Ezzor province activists and monitor group said.
ISIL, Al-Qeda splinter group, has seized control of 5 centers and oil locations in the countryside of Der Ezzor since the beginning of the clashes, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Activists and the Syrian Observatory said violence is escalating in Deir Ezzor, with daily battles pitting ISIL rebels against Al-Nusra fighters, and a spike in car bombings.
One such attack by ISIL on Friday killed 12 people, including three children, the Observatory said, according to AFP.
The watchdog's director, Rami Abdel Rahman, confirmed ISIL was expanding.
"They are pressing their bid by pushing tribes to swear oaths of loyalty to them, and by fighting rival factions in an attempt to ensure they emerge the strongest," he said.
"ISIL have oil, money and weapons," he added.
Over the past year ISIL fighters have seized regime weapons depots even after they were captured in joint battles with other groups, said Abdel Rahman.
Both the Observatory and activist Hussein say ISIL now holds sway in much of the area east of the Euphrates River in Deir Ezzor province.
Hussein said the tribal nature of the area means the war there is more over oil and loyalty than ideology.
He also said some rebel commanders in Albu Kamal, a key crossing point between Iraq and Syria still beyond ISIL control, "have sworn oaths of loyalty to ISIL".
Hussein added that anti-ISIL rebels and jihadists are fighting back, but that they have suffered heavy losses.
"And with all the oil money coming in to Deir Ezzor, ISIL is able to keep its ammunition supplies well stocked," he added.
The group has distributed food to families in flashpoint areas to try to gain popular support in an area impoverished by decades of marginalisation and three years of conflict and displacement.
"The other day they were giving out fruit to families. It's a tactic to win support," Hussein said.
But rebel spokesman Abu Layla, who opposes both ISIL and the Assad regime, said he believes ISIL has no future in Deir Ezzor.
"They want to use force to set up a brutal, extremist state that has nothing to do with Islam, and people reject that," he said.
"Every day we are fighting ISIL and the regime, without a single bullet or dollar of support from the outside world," Abu Leyla said.
"They
can never claim real, grassroots support. Nobody in Syria wants ISIL." (With AFP)
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