Fighting between rebel factions in Northern Syria is causing huge problems for civilians and displaced families.

In the last two weeks a dramatic transformation of the control of Syria’s war has taken place.

Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters have lost control of previously rebel-held areas, not to regime forces but to hard-line jihadist groups loosely linked to Al Qaeda.

While this summer brought a gradual surge in the influence of jihadist groups like Isis (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) and fundamentalist Islamist groups, such as Jabhat al Nusra, the decision by western governments in not intervening in Syria has given them greater freedom to continue their onslaught; initially from the western, Iraqi border, towards Northern Syria where this summer, their operation led the killing of a senior FSA commander.

Anticipating western air strikes, according to accounts from within Syria, many Al-Qaeda affiliated groups had been keeping a lower profile in the last few weeks, preparing the weather an onslaught from the US who would most likely target them along with the Assad regime.

Abandoned again by the west, Syria’s civilians and the ‘legitimate’ opposition, the FSA say they are now all but at the mercy of a collection of foreign jihadists determined to re-establish an Islamic empire in the region.
Abdul, 34 year old Free Syrian Army left Turkey last week to bring his wife and two children to safety in Turkey.

“We are modernist Islamic, not jihadists”

“Jihadists are the big problem in Syria, we now have a serious problem with ”

“In the big battles with the regime, we were fighting together but now they are fighting with us”

“I don’t like them, they are imposing their agenda on us, it’s not good”

“Smoking is not allowed, even on the street or at home, or at the market”

“If you’re caught smoking at the market they would break up your market [stall] and burn it”

“The women are ordered to cover up and are not allowed to work”

In the meantime, international NGO’s are increasingly shut off to areas that are controlled by Jihadist groups like Isis and their core associates, al Muhajireen.

Western journalists or foreigners of any type are not welcome; international journalists have been kidnapped and aid workers that are not local are no longer safely able to continue their work.

Irish aid agency, GOAL has been working in Northern Syria, in the town of Harem since November 2012. While Harem is visible from the town of Reyhanli – a crossing at the Turkish/Syrian border, getting access to GOAL’s central office is becoming increasingly difficult.

As the Syrian refugee crisis deepens and host countries become under increasing pressure from the 2 million (although the actual figure is far higher) refugees that have fled the crisis, little attention is spared for the 7 million displaced within Syria and in need of vital, basic essentials.

Last week, senior aid worker with GOAL, Davy Adams entered the Harem district of Idlib Province for the first time in just 3 weeks and noticed a remarkable difference.

“They have been encroaching in areas in the communities and they have been imposing their fundamentalist Islamist agenda”

“Syria is a devout Muslim nation but that is an entirely different thing from what these, mostly foreign jihadists are bringing into the country”

“We delivering aid to 120,000 people every month and more and more often our staff - which are all local, Syrian people – are getting threatened and it’s getting worse”.

He explains that out of necessity, staff from the Turkish office are required to monitor how their Syrian project is running, ensuring that the people that they assist are given basic food rations and vouchers to be spent of important others such as hygiene products for women.

“It’s not difficult to get aid in, but the security situation has become so bad that we weren’t able to visit all of our programmes; it’s difficult for ex-pats to get in”

The Turkish/Syrian border has been a reliable conduit for rebel forces to smuggle military equipment and manpower into rebel held areas in Idlib, Northern Syria.

Journalists and civilians have passed through with relative ease until very recently but now it is absolutely clear that journalist’s could pay with their lives if they’re found within jihadist-held areas.

A recent post on a jihadist website wrote: "journalists are the enemy to the mujahideen in Syria and globally".