32 Killed as ISIS Bombings Target al-Qaeda in North Syria

Growing Acrimony Between Islamist Factions

At least 32 people were killed and an unknown number of others wounded in a pair of car bombing attacks by ISIS against northern Syrian territory held by their rivals in al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front.

The larger of the two attacks hit the village of Hawar Kilis, near the border of Turkey due north of Aleppo. The second targeted a Nusra headquarters in Marea, a town just a little farther south.

The identities of the slain are mostly unclear at this point, though Nusra did report that their “local emir” and two other leaders were slain in the Marea attack.

ISIS has been keen to expand its territory recently on several fronts, taking a refugee camp on the outskirts of Damascus while contesting territory in both Homs and Hama Provinces. These attacks suggest they have not given up on the expansion of territory around Aleppo either.

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.