| CNN International | - |
(CNN)
-- Nearly 700 people have been killed in nine days of fierce clashes
between an al Qaeda affiliate and other Islamist and rebel groups,
activists said Sunday.
Nearly 700 killed in Syria rebel infighting
updated 11:30 AM EST, Sun January 12, 2014
Syria's civil war within a civil war
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Friends of Syria urge opposition to attend Geneva peace talks
- NEW: U.N humanitarian chief visits Damascus, expresses concern for displaced persons
- Activists say 697 people killed in nine days of rebel fighting
- Al Qaeda-affiliated ISIS forces battling Free Syrian Army fighters, other factions
Forces from the al
Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and Syria have increasingly come
into conflict with Free Syrian Army fighters and other hard-line
factions opposing the Syrian regime, while ISIS attempts to impose its
strict form of Islamic Sharia law on areas coming under its control in
northern Syria.
In the last nine days, 697 people have been killed in the fighting, activists said.
The victims include 351
combatants from the Islamist and non-Islamist rebel battalions, 246 ISIS
fighters, and 100 civilians, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights said.
The activist group said the deaths took place between January 3 and January 12.
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Among the 100 civilians
killed in the clashes, 21 were executed by ISIS in the children's
hospital in Qadi Askar in the northern rebel stronghold of Aleppo, the
group said.
CNN cannot independently
verify daily death tolls, but the United Nations has said more than
100,000 people have been killed in Syria since 2011.
Foreign ministers meet
The violence came as the
"Friends of Syria" group of foreign ministers, including U.S. Secretary
of State John Kerry, convened in Paris on Sunday in a last-ditch attempt
to persuade the Syrian opposition to attend a peace conference in
Geneva, Switzerland, at the end of January.
The Western-backed rebels are deeply divided on whether to go and will announce a decision on January 17.
In a statement, the
alliance of mainly Western and Gulf Arab countries called on armed
groups to "respect democratic and pluralistic values" and allow
humanitarian access.
It condemned the
presence of foreign fighters in Syria, "both those fighting with the
regime such as Hezbollah and other Iranian backed forces, and those
fighting within other extremist groups," and demanded their immediate
withdrawal.
It urged democratic opposition forces to keep opposing groups affiliated with al Qaeda.
"We fully support the
Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army and other democratic
opposition forces in their action against the Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant," it said. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is
another name for ISIS.
Uneasy alliance
For months, the rebel
groups maintained an uneasy alliance as they fought to topple Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad's government.
But now, the infighting
has threatened to tip the balance among rebel forces toward militant
groups and away from more secular brigades.
In a statement, the
opposition Syrian Coalition media office condemned "any and all
violations" and said armed gangs were taking advantage of the infighting
between ISIS and the Free Syrian Army.
The statement, signed by
Syrian Coalition media office director Khalid Saleh, cited these as
"illegal practices, intimidating civilians, and theft, taking place all
over Syria; particularly in the northern parts of the country."
"We call on FSA brigades
to work with civil revolutionary bodies and local councils operating in
those areas to address the threat of those gangs, and make sure those
gangsters are hunted down and brought to justice," the statement said.
In Iraq, where at least
nine people were killed and more than 40 wounded in several car
explosions on Sunday, security forces in Mosul said they have detained
137 ISIS suspects in a series of raids in the city over the past seven
days.
U.N. official in Damascus
On a visit to Damascus
on Sunday, the United Nations humanitarian chief expressed concern for
communities cut off by the months of fighting between government and
rebel forces.
"I am particularly
worried about the reports of starvation," Valerie Amos said in a
statement after meeting with government officials as well as
humanitarian organizations.
"The world must do more
for all the people who are displaced. Many families are living in
abandoned buildings, schools or in makeshift shelters, without enough
food, clean water or medicine. We must help them to get through this
very cold winter," she said after visiting a shelter in rural Damascus.
Amos recognized steps taken by the government to approve visas so aid can get in.
"But we need to do more in a crisis of this magnitude," she said.
CNN's Marie-Louise Gumuchian, Matt Smith and Samira Said contributed to this report
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