Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has begun to use Iraq as a launching pad for its campaign in neighboring Syria.

Syrian opposition sources said ISIL has exploited its newly-captured territory in Iraq to facilitate the flow of fighters and weapons to Syria.

They said ISIL was mobilizing in Iraq’s Anbar province for a massive assault
on the nearby Syrian city of Albu Kamal.

“ISIL has not allowed the fighting in Iraq to disrupt its goals to
capture northern Syria,” a source said.

The sources said ISIL was planning to capture the remaining rebel-held
territory in the northern Syrian provinces of Aleppo and Dir Al Zour. They
said ISIL was expected to attack Albu Kamal from the movement’s new base in
the nearby Iraqi border city of Al Qaim.

“ISIL is now equipped with the best weapons and combat platforms, which
the rebels cannot even come close to matching,” the source said. “We will
see these weapons in Syria probably over the next few weeks.”

On June 9, ISIL acquired hundreds of U.S.-origin Humvee combat vehicles
and dozens of main battle tanks and helicopters in the capture of the
northern Iraqi city of Mosul. About 10 days later, ISIL used the Humvees in
counter-rebel operations in Dir Al Zour.

ISIL was said to have sent a commander, Saddam Jamal, to Iraq to plan
the assault on Albu Kamal. So far, thousands have fled the Syrian border
city.

Albu Kamal has been identified as one of the last cities along the
Iraqi-Syrian border not yet under ISIL control. Over the last few months,
ISIL’s rival, Nusra Front for the Defense of the Levant, held the outskirts
of the city as well as the Syrian border crossing to Iraq.

On June 25, the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported
that Nusra units in Albu Kamal joined ISIL. Syrian Observatory said the
defections included senior Nusra members, who pledged allegiance to ISIL on
June 22.

“This means that the Islamic State is now effectively in Albu Kamal,”
Syrian Observatory said. “We cannot say it controls Albu Kamal, but we can
say they are now in Albu Kamal.”

  Albu Kamal, Aleppo, Anbar province, Dir Al Zour, dozens of tanks, ISIL taking the fight back to Syria with hundreds of Humvees