e in January. Led by a commander who identified himself as Abu Sulaiman, the group tried to recruit supporters for an assault on the nearby town of Jisr al-Shughour. Abu Sulaiman "had money, he had weapons, and he sent a guy to negotiate with me, but I refused," Abu Mustafa recalled in an interview in Turkey.

es to escalate in Syria. Security forces reportedly killed more than 30 protesters on Friday and used attack helicopters in the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughour. The following day, Damascus announced that 120 police and security forces were ambushed and killed by terrorist elements in Jisr al-Shughour. There