Activists: Nearly 500 Dead in Syria Rebel Clashes

The clashes, which pit fighters from a variety of Islamist and mainstream factions against the al-Qaida linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, have spread across four provinces in opposition-held parts of the north. The infighting has overshadowed the battle against the government, which in recent months has clawed back some of the ground it has lost to the rebels, APA reports quoting Associated Press.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Friday that at least 482 people have been killed in fighting between the factions since Jan. 3. It said 157 were from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, 240 from more moderate factions and 85 were civilians.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and another al-Qaida linked group known as Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Nusra Front, initially joined forces with moderate rebels fighting to oust Assad in a conflict that began in March 2011 as a popular uprising but morphed into a civil war.

The extremists proved well-organized and efficient fighters, giving the ragtag rebels a boost. But the "Islamic State" has alienated many Syrians, including other Islamist factions, over the past several months by using brutal tactics to impose its strict interpretation of Islamic law. The Nusra Front has largely stayed on the sidelines of the ongoing clashes, and in some places has tried to broker a truce.

The collection of ultraconservative rebels and more moderate brigades have made headway against fighters from the "Islamic State" in several areas of the provinces of Aleppo, Idlib, Hama and Raqqa - although the al-Qaida-linked group has managed to regroup and curb some of its losses.

The Observatory reported renewed clashes Friday in Aleppo, Idlib and Raqqa.

Fighting between rebels and Assad's forces also continued.

Army troops killed dozens of rebels who tried to break the military's siege on opposition-held areas of the central city of Homs, state media and anti-government activists said Friday.

For months, Assad's forces have blockaded opposition-held areas of Homs as the military tries to squeeze the last pockets of...