Al-Nusra, Allies Repel ISIL's Attack on Syria's al-Bukamal as Death Toll Hits 86

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Syria's al-Qaida affiliate and its allies have repulsed an assault by jihadist rivals on a town on the Iraqi border in fighting that killed 86 people, a monitoring group said Friday.

Sixty of the dead were fighters of al-Nusra Front or its Islamist allies killed pushing back their Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) rivals from districts of al-Bukamal they had captured early Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told Agence France Presse the rebels regained full control of al-Bukamal after reinforcements poured in.

ISIL withdrew to the T2 oil site, 60 kilometers (35 miles) southwest of the town and where a Syria-Iraq pipeline runs, he said, after executing seven fighters of a rival Islamist brigade.

The clashes have prompted soldiers on the Iraqi side of the border to reinforce their positions.

The border crossing itself on Syria's side remains in the hands of the mainstream rebel Free Syrian Army, said a rebel chief and an Agence France Presse reporter on the Iraqi side who saw the FSA flag flying over it.

With their attack on al-Bukamal, ISIL fighters wanted to link up with their comrades over the border in Iraq, said Abdel Rahman.

Iraqi troops put up blast walls and sand berms on their side of the crossing as a precaution, the AFP correspondent reported.

Al-Bukamal has been under the control of fighters opposed to the Damascus regime since November 2012, but al-Nusra and its allies forced out former ISIL allies in heavy fighting in late February.

Thousands were killed in battles in several regions of Syria in January and February pitting ISIL against its rivals and nominal allies in the anti-Assad revolt.

The Euphrates valley town of al-Bukamal had a population of some 70,000 before the start of the Syrian conflict which the Observatory says has cost more than 150,000 lives since March 2011.

Syrian troops now control just one official crossing on the Iraqi border -- al-Tanaf/al-Walid, on the main highway to Baghdad.

A third crossing, Yarabiyah/Rabia in the northeast, is held by Kurdish militia.

Comments 21
Thumb .mowaten. 11 April 2014, 15:58

hehehehe dogs turning on each other. gives Syrians a break from their massacres :)

Missing --karim-- 11 April 2014, 18:23

Exactly.

Missing ArabDemocrat.com 11 April 2014, 21:23

Mowaten, Karim - you are both hypocrite. Every human rights organization records that the overwhelming majority of crimes are committed by the monstrous regime you support and then followes by ISIL. The revolutionaries are fighting both these monsters.

Thumb .mowaten. 14 April 2014, 12:47

yea yea right, like the syrian observatory for human rights? hahahaha man whatever.

Default-user-icon Wifeless (Guest) 12 April 2014, 03:27

At least these they better than u guys

Thumb .mowaten. 11 April 2014, 18:18

lol yea right, he also invented takfiris and al qaeda right? he must have been really bored...

Thumb cedre 11 April 2014, 18:22

half of them iraqis, probably khomeynists...
Funny so many ISIS captured with iranian/russian passports or visas...

Thumb .mowaten. 11 April 2014, 18:29

lol, did you count them personally? i thought you only loved them from a distance, didnt you actually spent your night with them. enjoy dude, each his own.

Missing --karim-- 11 April 2014, 18:23

Good to see the FSA-Al Qaeda jihadist terrorists destroying each other.

Thumb .mowaten. 11 April 2014, 18:45

al qaeda is so nice! <3

Default-user-icon Hanoun (Guest) 11 April 2014, 18:49

its a Qatari saoudi war

Thumb jabal10452 11 April 2014, 18:49

86 dead takfiris? In one day? If this isn't worth a good Single Malt this evening, I don't know what is.

Thumb .mowaten. 11 April 2014, 18:51

heheh cheers mate, enjoy the weekend!

Default-user-icon Loubnani Chmali (Guest) 12 April 2014, 07:44

I'm glad somebody likes single malt like me. I have Laphroaig if you want to share. cheers!

Missing sanctify 11 April 2014, 19:36

Is the photo of another mass execution frenzy? Who's funding this insanity?

Missing --karim-- 11 April 2014, 20:08

The kingdom of terrorism.

Missing ArabDemocrat.com 11 April 2014, 21:43

Iran is not a kingdom

Missing ArabDemocrat.com 11 April 2014, 21:44

Bigjohn - the majority of salafists are not takfiris. A small number of salafists support the Hizb. This is not dissimilar to some Iranian and Iraqi shiites who call sunnis nawasibs.

Default-user-icon Sama (Guest) 12 April 2014, 02:45

who is butcher boy?

Thumb geha 12 April 2014, 07:51

and funded by iran.

Thumb .mowaten. 14 April 2014, 13:42

i thought you said iran was broke and unable to fund HA anymore? now they also fund ISIL? with funds that they transit through Saudi? hahahha man you're one big joke, arent you?