Syria car bomb kills rebel chief, 6 others near Iraq

BEIRUT -- A car bomb exploded in eastern Syria near the border with Iraq on Tuesday, killing at least seven people, including a local rebel commander, opposition activists said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the blast struck near the offices of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and another group, Ahrar al-Sham, in the village of Shmeitiyeh in Deir el-Zour province.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists on the ground, said an Ahrar al-Sham commander in the area and an Islamic judge affiliated with the Nusra Front also were among those killed.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing.

Ahrar al-Sham and the Nusra Front have battled a rival faction, known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, in the oil-rich province since April in fighting that has killed more than 640 people and uprooted at least 130,000 civilians. The rebel infighting also has undermined the broader opposition battle against President Bashar Assad's forces, depriving the rebels of manpower and resources needed to fight the government.

The Islamic State holds sway over much of northern and eastern Syria, and is waging an offensive in Deir el-Zour against the government and rival rebels. The extremist group, which has been disavowed by al-Qaida, has also seized control of much of northern and western Iraq over the past week.

A United Nations panel warned Tuesday that the onslaught of extremist Sunni militants in Iraq will have violent repercussions in Syria and could bring wider war in the Middle East.

The conflict in Syria "has reached a tipping point threatening the entire region," the panel, the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria, told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Attacks in northern Iraq by forces affiliated with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant have caused "unimaginable suffering" and are likely to cause greater regional involvement in the Syrian conflict, including an influx of more foreign fighters, the panel said.

The Islamic State "has shown itself willing to fan the flames of sectarianism both in Iraq and Syria," the four-member panel warned. "Any strengthening of their position gives rise to great concern."

Vitit Muntarbhorn, a member of the panel, said: "We are possibly on the cusp of a regional war. That is something we are very worried about."

In a separate attack in Deir el-Zour on Tuesday, an Islamic State fighter detonated an explosive belt outside the home of a local rebel commander in the village of Huwayej, wounding him and killing two of his sons, the Observatory said.

It added that there were also heavy clashes between the Islamic State and its rivals on the edge of the town of Basira.

Also Tuesday, the head of the international chemical weapons watchdog said a preliminary report by the fact-finding mission sent to Syria to investigate alleged chlorine attacks "lends credence to the view that toxic chemicals" have been used in the country.

Ahmet Uzumcu, the director-general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, said in a statement that the chemicals were "most likely pulmonary irritating agents, such as chlorine." The fact-finding team will continue to investigate, he said.

A separate, joint mission between the organization and the U.N. is overseeing the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons program. That operation was created after a deadly chemical weapons attack on rebel-held areas near Damascus last August. The West blamed the attack on the Syrian government, which denied involvement.

Information for this article was contributed by staff members of The Associated Press and by Nick Cumming-Bruce of The New York Times.

A Section on 06/18/2014

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