In a report issued Tuesday (July 5th) Amnesty International accused five extremist factions operating in Syria of "a chilling wave of abductions, torture and summary killings".

The London-based rights group named five extremist opposition factions operating in northern Syria: Al-Nusra Front (ANF), Ahrar al-Sham, Nureddin Zinki, the Levant Front and Division 16.

The groups have detained and tortured lawyers, journalists and children -- among others -- for criticising them, committing acts seen as immoral, or being minorities, the report said.

"Many civilians live in constant fear of being abducted if they criticise the conduct of armed groups in power or fail to abide by the strict rules that some have imposed," said Philip Luther, head of Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa programme.

"In Aleppo and Idlib today, armed groups have free rein to commit war crimes and other violations of international humanitarian law with impunity," he added.

The report is based on 24 accounts of abduction by anti-regime groups between 2012 and 2016 and another five cases of torture.

Amnesty said it documented violations in Idlib, which is held by ANF and its allies, and Aleppo.