Al-Qaida-Linked Group Ousts Rivals From Syria Town Two activist groups say an al-Qaida-linked group has seized a town in northern Syria from rival opposition fighters. The capture of the town of al-Bab on Monday by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is part of nearly two weeks of intense fighting between the al-Qaida-affiliated group and rebels from Islamist and more moderate factions. The rebel-on-rebel clashes are the most serious since the Syrian civil war began. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Aleppo Media Center say "Islamic State" gunmen are conducting house-to-house raids in al-Bab in search of rival rebels and civilians who support them. Observatory director Rami Abdurrahman says the al-Qaida-linked group has arrested dozens of its opponents in the town.