Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) is back on the offensive in Aleppo Province, killing dozens of rival rebel fighters in al-Bab just one day after losing a major base of operations.
It’s now been a solid week since those rebel factions turned on AQI, taking a number of their less well-guarded holdings, and the estimated death toll from the new “war-within-a-war” is around 500.
The split, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, was 157 AQI fighters, 240 other rebels, and 85 civilians killed in fighting that shows no sign of slowing down.
The fighting between rebel factions has put the war against the Assad government more or less on hold in Aleppo and some other provinces, though fighting continues in central provinces around Homs and Hama.