Al-Qaeda playing increasingly deadly role in Syria: report

Reportedly, presence of jihadists in Syria has accelerated due to a convergence with the sectarian tensions across the country’s border with Iraq. (AP)

 

Amid intensifying violence in Syria, concern is mounting that al-Qaeda is trying to change the nature of the conflict against President Bashar al-Assad’ regime and is resorting to suicide bombings to “hijack” the revolution, the New York Times (NYT) reported on Wednesday.

According to the NYT, while the Syrian opposition continues to deny any role of the extremists in the conflict American intelligence officials and Iraqi officials next door are concerned al-Qaeda is deeply involved in the conflict, injecting the weapon it perfected in Iraq —suicide bombings—into the struggle against Assad with increasing rate.

The paper said evidence is mounting that Syria has become a magnet for Sunni extremists, including those operating under the banner of al-Qaeda. The paper gave the example of the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with turkey that fell into rebel hands last week, but has quickly become a jihadists gathering point.

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