The battle between al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front and the breakaway Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original...
(ISIL) has raged for four days despite an order from al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-
Zawahiri... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as
the real brains of the outfit.Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is...
to stop fighting.
"Residents of the towns of Busayra, home to 35,000 people, Abriha, home to 12,000 people, and Al-Zir, home to 15,000 people, have nearly all been displaced by the fighting in the area," said the Britannia-based monitoring group.
The monitoring group, which relies on a vast network of contacts on the ground for its data, said Al-Nusra Front's fighters burnt down several houses in Busayra, as did ISIL in Abriha.
At least 62 fighters have been killed in this week's festivities, said the Observatory.
The latest showdown between Al-Nusra and ISIL erupted on Wednesday in energy-rich Deir Ezzor, bordering Iraq.
"There are battles now in an area around 10 kilometers (six miles) from Busayra that has an oil rig and a gas plant," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.
The group said hundreds of the displaced had reached Turkey but the vast majority sought refuge in other rebel-held areas of Deir Ezzor province.
Conflict in Syria since March 2011 has killed more than 150,000 people and forced nearly half the country's population to flee their homes.
Al-Nusra Front is seen by many rebels as an ally, but ISIL has been widely rejected by the armed opposition to
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now...
's regime because of its quest for hegemony and abuses.
Mainstream rebel fighters launched a massive offensive against ISIL in January and Al-Nusra Front joined the battle later.