(Zaman Alwasl)- As the Islamic State group is making rapid advances in northern Aleppo, key rebel factions have formed a joint command room to stop IS invasion which may reach border crossing with Turkey as well may reflect a humiliating defeat on rebels.
Sources in Nour ed-Din al-Zinki movement say the operation room is included al-Nusra Front, al-Mujahedeen Army and the Islamic Front.
Meantime, IS's ultimate goal is to reach Marea, a town a few kilometres to the west that is considered a stronghold of the rival jihadist Islamic Front, a powerful alliance of Islamist rebels. IS is also looking to seize Azaz, a town located next to the Bab al-Salama border crossing with Turkey.
Amid rebels' mounting rifts and 8-month infighting, analysts and activists are afraid of tragic destiny for Aleppo, Syria’s commercial hub. The unstoppable advance by IS has raised fears and concerns of imminent defeat for rebels similar to what happened in Mosul and the humiliating defeat on Kurdish forces Peshmerga and Iraqi forces.
On Wednesday, IS fighters seized two key towns and several villages in Syria’s Aleppo province after routing rival fighters, opposition groups and activists said.
Activists said ISIS captured the towns of Akhtarin and Turkmanbareh after fierce clashes with opposition rebels who are fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The militants also took over a string of nearby villages, including Masoudiyeh, Dabiq and Ghouz.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that at least 31 rebels and eight ISIS fighters were killed in the clashes. The Observatory relies on a network of activists inside Syria for its information.
The capture of Akhtarin has strategic significance as the town is "the gate to the northern countryside of Aleppo", said a local rebel commander who uses the nom de guerre of Abu Thabet.
More than 170,000 people have been killed in Syria in the three years of fighting, activists say. (With agencies)
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