Abu Mahmoud, a 60-year-old Free Syrian Army fighter, carries his weapon as he waits for his son inside a house in the old city of Aleppo November 22, 2013. REUTERS/Molhem Barakat
AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Islamist fighters in Syria have joined forces to form what may be the biggest rebel army in the country, further undermining Western-backed military commanders and potentially challenging al Qaeda.
The announcement on Friday of a common leadership for the Islamic Front, an amalgam of six major Islamist groups which had earlier declared an intention to merge, coincided with accounts of a battle on the Turkish border between rival Islamists that ended with al Qaeda allies taking control of the town of Atma.
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