BICOM

According to a report in this morning’s Telegraph, Syrian opposition fighters with connections to al-Qaida in Iraq have taken control of two villages close to the border with Israel.

Over the past week, weapons fire from internal Syrian fighting spilled over into Israeli territory on six separate occasions. It was believed that the incidents stemmed from Syrian army attempts to re-capture the village of Bir Ajam, which had apparently been captured by opposition forces. According to the Telegraph, Bir Ajam and the neighbouring village of Bariqa, which are both situated in the demilitarized zone of the Golan Heights, are now firmly in opposition hands under the control of 200 rebel fighters.

The Telegraph quotes an Israeli military intelligence source from the army’s northern command, saying “The rebels are employing a clear tactic of drawing the regime forces to fight in these demilitarized areas because of the limitations on the Syrian armed forces.” An armistice agreed in 1974 following the Yom Kippur War prohibits the Syrian government from engaging in military activity within the demilitarized zone that runs along the length of the Israeli border.

According to the Israeli source, the group of fighters that now controls Bir Ajam and Bariqa are members of a Salafist faction calling itself the “Eagles of the Golan” and is comprised mainly of foreign fighters including those affiliated to al-Qaida in Iraq. The group apparently has ambitions to engage Israel once the Assad regime has been toppled. The Telegraph quotes its source saying, “We are used to a Cold War situation between Israel and Syria but what we are seeing along the border now is a situation similar to that of Lebanon or Sinai, where a weak sovereign state is failing to exert its control over an area that different rebel groups can use to attack Israel.”