Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — Al Qaida’s Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is said to have expelled tens of thousands of residents from eastern Syria.

The opposition asserted that ISIL, now called Islamic State, drove more than 30,000 people from their homes in the eastern Syrian town of Shuheil.

ISIL was said to have entered Shuheil, a former stronghold of the rival
Nusra Front for the Defense of the Levant, in main battle tanks and armored
personnel carriers captured in neighboring Iraq.

“Some 30,000 residents of the town of Shuheil, the former stronghold of
Nusra Front, have been forced out by the Islamic State,” the opposition
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

In a report on July 6, Syrian Observatory said ISIL drove out another
30,000 people from their homes in the eastern province of Dir Al Zour. The
British-based opposition group cited the towns of Khosham and Tabia Jazeera.

The expulsions marked the latest offensive by ISIL amid its war in Iraq.
Opposition sources said ISIL commands up to 120,000 fighters in Syria alone,
many of whom shuttle to Iraq for attacks against the Shi’ite-led government
in Baghdad.

Opposition sources confirmed the Syrian Observatory report. They said
ISIL accused the Muslims in eastern Syria of “fear and cowardice” and
ordered them to surrender their weapons.

ISIL has been carving an enclave in northern Syria meant to connect with
western Iraq. The sources said ISIL was moving toward three additional towns
in Dir Al Zour with a population of more than 80,000, expected to be
expelled.

  APCs to drive tens of thousands of Syrians from their homes, Dir Al Zour, ISIL using tanks, Islamic state, Nusra Front, Shuheil