In Pictures

In Pictures: Aleppo’s front-lines

‘We are steadfast, and we will keep fighting Daesh until the last breath,’ says a leader of the Free Syrian Army.

Among other areas, ISIL has targeted the town of Azaz near the Turkish border, said a fighter with the Islamic Front, a Syrian rebel group.

Fighting between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Syrian rebel groups has intensified in Aleppo’s countryside.

In its latest advance, ISIL seized two key towns and several villages in the province after fierce clashes with opposition fighters aiming to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

ISIL fighters have captured the towns of Akhtarin and Turkmanbareh and taken over a string of nearby villages, including Masoudiyeh, Dabiq, Ghouz, and Talmaled.

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(***)We are stationed 24 hours [a day] on the front-line with ISIL in Marae town [near Azaz] to prevent them from taking over the town,(***) an Islamic Front fighter told Al Jazeera.

After ISIL began its attack on the Kurdish-dominated Syrian city of Kobane, opposition fighters from Aleppo and Raqqa relocated to Kobane to assist in the battle.

(***)[ISIL] tried to sneak up on our positions in Marae town once, but we stood against them with heavy weapons and killed some of their members,(***) Abu al-Abbas, a commander with the Islamic Front in Aleppo(***)s countryside, told Al Jazeera.

Abu Omar, a commander with the al-Nusra Front in Aleppo(***)s countryside, has joined the fight against ISIL.

ISIL fighters in Syria have declared members of the al-Nusra Front to be apostates, pledging to fight and kill them.

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According to Abu Omar, the fight against Assad(***)s forces has been easier than the fight against ISIL.

(***)They are launching mortars indiscriminately towards the civilians and sending suicide car bombs to us,(***) Abu Omar said.

The violence is part of ISIL(***)s push to expand its reach and take over new territory, Abu Omar noted.

(***)Anyone who refuses to fight ISIL, will be expelled from al-Nusra Front,(***) said Abu Al-Mutazz, a leader of the group in Aleppo city.

(***)Daesh [ISIL] is launching many mortars towards us, but most of them do not explode,(***) a fighter with the Islamic Front said.

According to Mohammed, a leader of the Free Syrian Army: (***)We are steadfast, and we will keep fighting Daesh until our last breath.(***)

The Syrian conflict began more than three years ago as a popular uprising against Assad’s rule, but turned into a wider insurgency after government forces violently cracked down on demonstrators.

It has since deteriorated into a civil war with sectarian overtones, involving increasingly powerful factions.