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Al-Nusra Front are gaining control across Idlib province in northern Syria
Have driven out other rebel groups including western-armed moderates
Raises fears second jihadist 'mini-state' could defeat efforts to end unrest

Published: 19:50 GMT, 6 February 2015 | Updated: 02:08 GMT, 7 February 2015

A jihadist group that has pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda has taken over swathes of Syria as western forces have focused their efforts on defeating Islamic State.

The al-Nusra Front have carved out their own territory in the region, raising fears a second jihadist mini-state could thwart any attempts to end the barbarity.

The hardline Islamist fighting group has been gaining control across Idlib province in northern Syria since November, driving out other rebel groups, including western-armed moderates.

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Gaining control: The al-Nusra Front have carved out their own territory in the region, marked above in pink, raising fears a second jihadist mini-state could thwart any attempts by western forces to end the barbarity

Syrian rebel activists and commanders have said that in the past week – as airstrikes have focused around IS strongholds in the region – the Nusra Front have begun to extend its control into the northern city of Aleppo.

Aleppo is seen as one of the last areas in northern Syria with a significant presence of moderate rebel groups.

Mazen Alhor, an opposition activist in the city, said: ‘Nusra are trying to do in Aleppo what they did in Idlib — they want to wipe out the (western-backed) Free Syrian Army.

‘They are starting to behave like ISIS — kidnapping, enforcing Islamic rules. They have a strategy, they want an Islamic state.’

Sami Mashaal, the head of the Shura Council for the Revolution in Aleppo, said that on Wednesday the Nusra Front began establishing checkpoints inside the city.

He said: ‘They are harassing people, trying to enforce Islamic rules — and civilians are getting angry about it.’

Violence: In the past week the Nusra Front have begun to extend its control into the northern city of Aleppo, pictured above after a clash between members of the Free Syrian Army and forces loyal to Assad last week

Conflict: The Nusra Front has turned against the Islamic State after it was previously allied to the extremist group that eventually morphed into ISIS. Above, ISIS militants pictured in Aleppo in 2013

Hundreds of Syrian rebels pledge loyalty to al-Qaeda (Archive)

The Nusra Front was established inside Syria in 2012 under Abu Muhammad al-Julani, a Syrian al-Qaeda commander, and was originally allied to the extremist group that eventually morphed into Islamic State.

The two groups turned against each other at the start of last year however, in a war that has cost thousands of lives.

The emergence of a new mini-state alongside the IS ‘caliphate’ could jeopardise western plans to train thousands of moderate rebel groups to fight Islamic State.

A few weeks ago Britain announced plans to help train the moderate groups alongside other coalition partners in countries bordering the region.

POWER STRUGGLE: GROUPS FIGHTING FOR TERRITORY IN SYRIA

The Nusra Front and the Islamic State

It rose quickly to prominence among rebel organizations in Syria for its reliable supply of arms, funding, and fighters.

While it has avoided some of the more extreme techniques, such as beheadings, that made Al Qaeda unpopular, it was the first Syrian force to claim responsibility for attacks that killed civilians.

The two share the same ideology and rigid Islamic beliefs, but fell out during a power struggle that pitted Islamic State head Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi against Al Qaeda chief Ayman Zawahri and Al Nusra Front leader Abu Mohammad al-Golani.

There were reports at the end of last year that the two groups would form an alliance.

Despite the occasional coordination on a tactical level, al-Nusra and ISIS continue to fight each other while also fighting the Assad regime.

As well as facing conflicts with a number of other groups, ISIS also faces problems within its own members, it has been reported.

Some are extreme hardliners originally attracted by the harsh application of Sharia law; others are Syrian militants who are reluctant to be used to reinforce ISIS units in neighboring Iraq.

Hazzm Movement

Hazzm is one of the last remnants of non-jihadist opposition to Assad in northern Syria. It has been under attack from the Nusra Front in both the Aleppo and Idlib provinces.

Last week the group clashed with the Nusra Front when the Al-Qaeda-affiliated group seized positions from Hazzm west of Aleppo.

Hazzm has received what it describes as small amounts of military aid from foreign states opposed to Assad, including U.S.-made anti-tank missiles.

It recently announced it was joining a coalition of mostly conservative Islamic rebel groups called Jabhat al-Shamiya, or the Levant Front.

This was seen as an attempt to shield itself from future attacks by the Nusra Front.

Free Syrian Army

The Free Syrian Army (FSA) was formed in August 2011 during the Syrian civil war by army defectors based in Turkey, led by Col Riad al-Asaad.

The array of mainly Western-backed armed opposition groups that have little or no central coordination in fighting President Bashar al-Assad and rival militant groups.

It is not clear how many fighters remain in FSA, which has also been hampered by restrictions in neighboring Turkey.

The movement claims a force of 60,000 while opposition sources said recently as few as 4,000 were still fighting.