Al Qaeda-linked militants justified their takeover of a strategic opposition-held town near the Syrian border with Turkey by accusing the Syrian rebels who held it of being pro-democracy traitors who cooperated with Western officials like U.S. Sen. John McCain . The ousted rebels `` have called for democracy ... which conflicts with Islamic teachings , '' the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria announced in an online statement Monday . ISIS said it `` cleansed '' the northern border town of Azaz of more moderate fighters from the rebel Free Syrian Army in the past week because the rebels `` received American Senator McCain and agreed with him to fight Islamists . '' Earlier this year , McCain made a surprise visit to this border region to lend support to Syrian rebels . FSA rebels have controlled Azaz and the Syrian side of the Oncupinar-Bab el Salama border crossing with Turkey since seizing the town from the government of President Bashar al-Assad last year . ISIS militants attacked the Syrian rebels and drove them out of Azaz after the rebels refused to hand over a German doctor that the al Qaeda-linked group accused of being a Western spy . The deadly power play by ISIS left at least one prominent Syrian opposition activist from Azaz dead . The militant group also detained dozens of other anti-Assad fighters and activists , some of whom still remain in ISIS custody . ISIS ' ranks are bolstered by foreign jihadi militants from North Africa , the Caucasus and Iraq . The group was denounced by the Syrian National Coalition , a Western-backed opposition group that operates largely in exile . `` ISIS no longer fights the Assad regime , '' the coalition declared in a statement published Friday . `` Rather it is strengthening its positions in liberated areas at the expense of the civilians . ISIS is inflicting on the people the same suppression of the Baath Party and the Assad regime . '' But it is unclear how much the coalition can dictate events on the ground inside Syria , where the north of the country is controlled by an assortment of rebel factions that often compete for weapons , territory and financial resources . The Bab al Salama border gate is one of the main conduits for international aid to the opposition-controlled enclave in Northern Syria . International aid organizations have established logistical offices in the nearby Turkish city of Gaziantep to coordinate deliveries of badly needed food and medical supplies to millions of displaced Syrians . The U.S. State Department has used the gate for previous shipments of what it describes as `` non-lethal aid '' to Syrian rebels . The ISIS statement included a sharp warning to members of the Syrian opposition who work with Western governments and organizations . `` Those who cooperate with the Americans will be treated like them as per the holy Koran , '' ISIS announced . Several hundred FSA fighters still control the customs terminal at the border gate leading to Turkey . However , eyewitnesses tell CNN that ISIS militants now control the town of Azaz , located less than a five-minute drive away .
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria says democracy conflicts with Islamic teachings . It says rebels it ousted from Azaz , Syria , were cooperating with Westerners . Comment: