Syria hit by day of car bombings and intense fighting Its presence on major battlefronts has split the opposition, much of which wants the revolution to be democratic rather than jihadist. But it is being accepted because of the determination and discipline of such groups, in some cases acquired from experience in Afghanistan and Iraq. "I personally am against the bombs, but on the other hand Jabhat al-Nusra often help us in sensitive and difficult battles," one platoon leader serving on the front line in Aleppo said. He said the group had co-operated in fighting near the airport and many other places regarded as particularly important. One Jabhat al-Nusra fighter claimed that the group did not have a militant anti-Western ideology and most of its members were "moderate Islamists." "I joined because they were better organised," he said. In a sign of how integrated the group is into the rebel forces, he was speaking at the headquarters in Aleppo of the biggest brigade fighting there, the overwhelmingly local Liwa al-Tawhid. The added efficiency militant groups are bringing to the fight is paying off in tough front line fighting, now taking place across north-western Syria from the Tal-Abyad crossing with Turkey down through Aleppo to the towns of Jisr al-Shughur, near yesterday's base attack, and Maarat al-Numaan. Most of the territory north of this is now in rebel hands, with some regime military bases encircled behind rebel lines. Mousab al-Hamadee, an activist in Hama, told The Daily Telegraph that the attack fitted with the rebel strategy of making this area impossible for the regime to hold. But the operations of militants have deepened arguments between the various divided groups who make up the opposition inside and outside the country. Two groups briefly fought for control of the main border crossing between Turkey and rebel-held territory on Sunday, while lack of a unified command structure has prevented the opposition capitalising on battlefield advantages. Distrust of militant groups is thought to be one reason why the United States is trying to forge a new, unified political opposition in a major meeting in Doha, the capital of Qatar, this week. The Syrian National Council, which claims to be the main opposition body, has rejected the plan but agreed to expand its own general assembly from 300 to 400 people. Fighters inside Syria regards events in Qatar as remote. Ghassan al-Yasin, a political activist who went into exile in Turkey earlier in the revolution but has returned to Aleppo, said many people believed the Americans were now trying to do a deal with Russia to end the war. "There's an unannounced agreement between America and Russia," he said. This is for Assad to leave but the regime to stay. He said that the West should step in to finish off the regime, and that the longer the fighting continued, the more prominent a role jihadists would play. "There is no political solution to this crisis," he said. We need military intervention.