The fresh armed clashes erupted on Friday between the terrorist groups in the cities of Raqqa, Aleppo, Hama, and Idlib, local and regional reports indicate.

In Raqqa, the fighting broke out between members of the terrorist group called the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and those of the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front after an ISIL member was killed in an area of the city held by al-Nusra militants near Syria's border with Turkey.

In Idlib, the al-Qaeda-linked group of Jaysh al-Islam attacked the Western-backed militants of the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) and seized their weapons and other military supplies.

The Syrian army also bombed a building previously functioning as Raqqa’s military court that was being used by insurgent elements, inflicting heavy casualties on them.

Reports coming out of Syria further point out that ISIL terrorist gang members are fighting other militant groups in Hama with both sides suffering casualties.

Over the past year, thousands of foreign militants have poured into Syria to fight government forces.

Analysts from an arm of the British defense consultant IHS Jane’s and from a nonprofit think tank in London estimate that over 15,000 foreign militants, including Americans and Europeans, are fighting against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The US and some of its allies, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, openly support the insurgents in Syria.

More than 100,000 people have been killed since the beginning of the conflict in Syria in March 2011.The prolonged militancy has also forced millions of Syrians to flee their homes.

MB/MB