Iraq News

Al-Nusra Front battles opposition in north Syria

Al-Nusra Front (ANF), now known as Fatah al-Sham Front, battled a range of opposition groups in Syria's north on Tuesday (January 24th), AFP reported.

The clashes began early in the day with an ANF attack on a base belonging to the Jaish al-Mujahideen faction, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

ANF leads an alliance that controls Idlib province, but tensions have occasionally flared between the group and other opposition forces , which accuse it of seeking hegemony.

The morning attack prompted further clashes which continued Tuesday afternoon along the border between Idlib and northern Aleppo province, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Rockets fired during the fighting killed five members of a family, most of them children and women, he added.

The Observatory said ANF had seized territory from opposition groups in Aleppo, while opposition fighters advanced against the extremist group in Idlib.

There was no official statement from either side on what sparked the clashes, which came after days of tension in Idlib and Aleppo provinces, including infighting between other opposition groups.

But ANF has been hit in recent weeks by a series of deadly airstrikes, most believed to have been carried out by the coalition.

Abdel Rahman said the group appeared to believe that local opposition fighters were providing co-ordinates for the airstrikes.

The latest clashes came as the Syrian regime and opposition groups concluded fresh peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana, building on a ceasefire in force since December 30th.

ANF is excluded from the ceasefire and has rejected the negotiation process, creating fresh tensions with opposition groups.

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