Beirut: The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) took control of the key Syrian border town of Albu Kamal on Tuesday after a fierce three-day battle with rival fighters, a monitor said.
A spokesman for rebels fighting Isil as well as President Bashar Al Assad’s regime said the Isil militants took over the town after pouring in reinforcements from neighbouring Iraq, where they have seized chunks of territory in a swift offensive.
The takeover comes two days after Isil declared a “caliphate” in territory they seized in both Syria and Iraq, and ordered the world’s Muslims to obey its leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi.
“The Islamic State [of Iraq and the Levant] took total control of Albu Kamal in [the oil-rich province of] Deir Al Zor, after fierce fighting pitting it against rebels backed by Al Qaida affiliate Al Nusra Front,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Omar Abu Leyla, the official rebel spokesman for Deir Al Zor province, told AFP “the battle was fierce... But Isil has won this round.”
He said the Isli won “after deploying major reinforcements from Iraq into Syria on Monday night”.
Fighting has raged for months in Deir Al Zor between the Isil against rebels backed by Al Nusra Front.
The rebels held their ground for most of that time but the Islil militants were bolstered “mainly because of the heavy weapons” captured from fleeing Iraqi troops during the lightening offensive, said Abu Leyla.
Hundreds of families fled Albu Kamal as isil took over, he said.
Meanwhile regime warplanes carried out four air strikes on Albu Kamal after Isil seized the town, said the Observatory.
The Britain-based monitor also reported fighting in Shheil, an Al Nusra Front bastion some 100km north of Albu Kamal.
Syria’s war began as a peaceful revolt demanding Al Assad’s ouster, but morphed into a conflict after the regime unleashed a massive crackdown on dissent.
Many months into the fighting, militants started streaming into Syria, and analysts have long warned of the conflict leading to a regional conflagration.
