Rebel infighting reportedly kills at least 62 in eastern Syria

BEIRUT – Activists say heavy fighting between rival Islamic rebel groups has killed 62 fighters in eastern Syria.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Sunday the rebel infighting is taking place around a cluster of three villages in the oil-rich Deir el-Zour province near the Iraqi border. Fighting has recently flared up there, and in the past four days 62 rebels have been killed, The Observatory said. The rebel-on-rebel violence has also forced hundreds of civilians to flee their homes, the group added.

Rebels from the al-Qaida breakaway group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and fighters of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front have fought each other for months over territory they previously captured together from President Bashar Assad's forces.