Foreign 'jihadi' fighters present in Syria

  • 12 years ago
State television has shown soldiers saying they are battling what they call 'foreign terrorists'. Amateur videos have since revealed foreign fighters hoping to wage a religious war in Syria. The country's civil war has been played out constantly on YouTube, but while the brutal images of death remain the same, images of the armed opposition are changing. Groups that say they are affiliated with Al Qaeda, fly its flags, and say they now have training camps inside the country. The opposition say these fighters have nothing to do with the Free Syrian Army, but do acknowledge their presence in Syria. Religious fighters are reported to be coming in from countries like Iraq and Libya, while money is still pouring into Syria to help topple President Bashar al Assad. Some have accused Al Qaeda in Iraq of moving into Syria in an attempt to stir up a sectarian war, and fears remain that the more religious these Sunni fighters become, the more sectarian this war will be. Al Jazeera's Jane Ferguson reports.

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