Rebel Infighting: FSA Accuses al-Qaeda of Killing Their Commander

Commander Was Meeting With al-Qaeda Leaders to Discuss Battle Plans

The rebel Free Syrian Army has reported that one of the top commanders in their leadership council, Kamal Hamami, has been assassinated, and they are accusing rebels linked to al-Qaeda with having killed him.

According to FSA spokesman Qassem Saadeddine, Hamami was meeting with fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (a faction of Jabhat al-Nusra) in Latakia to coordinate battle plans. They killed Hamami and reportedly threatened to kill the rest of the FSA’s leadership council.

Supported by the US, the FSA’s leadership is seen as more secular, and has rejected the idea of imposing Taliban-style Sharia law on Syria in the event of regime change, a key goal of al-Qaeda groups.

Secular and Islamist rebel factions have repeatedly clashed over territory in Syria, and both sides have made it clear that they envision eliminating the other after the end of the current civil war. As this war drags on, however, it seems some aren’t willing to wait for the next one.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.