Fresh Infighting Leaves 65 Militants Dead in Syria

According to reports, terrorists from the al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) killed fellow militants belonging to the so-called al-Nusra and Islamic Fronts in a new instance of infighting that erupted in the suburbs of Syria’s eastern city of Deir ez-Zor.

The new deadly clashes come a day after a major leader of the notorious al-Nusra Front was killed in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, Press TV reported.

Months of clashes between different armed groups have killed thousands of Takfiri militants in Syria.

On April 11, opposition sources said an outbreak of infighting among extremist groups left nearly 90 people dead in Deir ez-Zor. The clashes pitted the al-Nusra Front against its main rival the ISIL.

In February, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said clashes between extremist militants in Syria had left around 3,300 casualties since January.

According to extracts from British defense consultancy IHS Jane’s published in the Daily Telegraph last September, some 100,000 militants are operating in Syria.

The militants have split into some 1,000 brands since the Syria crisis began three years ago, said the study, which is based on intelligence estimates and interviews with militants.

Syria has been the scene of a foreign-sponsored crisis since March 2011. Reports says over 150,000 people have so far been killed and millions of others displaced because of the bloody turmoil.