![Residents of the Idlib province town of Kafr Sajna inspect a car damaged in the latest round of Syrian regime airstrikes. [Photo circulated on social media]](/cnmi_di/images/2018/03/12/11813-Kafr-Sajna-car-700_496.webp)
Fierce clashes erupted on Sunday (March 11th) in rural Idlib and Aleppo between Tahrir al-Sham and the Syrian Liberation Front (Hayaat Tahrir Syria) after a two-day truce between the rival alliances, activists told Diyaruna.
The resumption of clashes between the extremist alliance and its rival, a new group formed by the merging of Nureddine al-Zinki and Ahrar al-Sham, was accompanied by a deadly round of Syrian regime airstrikes.
Before fighting resumed, the two sides had adhered to a two-day truce, arranged by a mediation committee comprising members of Failaq al-Sham and Idlib province dignitaries, said Idlib activist Haisam al-Idlibi.
The committee mediated between the two sides and persuaded them to agree to a 48-hour truce that began Friday -- the first in the region in 18 days since the start of hostilities, he told Diyaruna.
![Residents inspect the damage caused by regime airstrikes in Idlib province on Sunday (March 11th). [Photo circulated on social media]](/cnmi_di/images/2018/03/12/11814-Idlib-airsrike-damage-700_496.webp)
Residents inspect the damage caused by regime airstrikes in Idlib province on Sunday (March 11th). [Photo circulated on social media]
"The purpose of the truce was to clear the way for negotiations between the two sides to eliminate the reasons for disagreement between them and reach a permanent agreement to stop the fighting," he said.
The fighting quickly resumed, however, particularly in the town of Basartoun in western rural Aleppo, al-Idlibi said, adding that from there, it spread to most fronts in rural Aleppo and Idlib.
"Both sides rejected mediation efforts to extend the truce over fundamental differences," he noted, "and each held firmly to its position, demanding that the other side hand over its areas and arms."
The resumption of clashes was accompanied by heavy regime airstrikes on various parts of Idlib, including the cities of Idlib and Jisr al-Shughur and the towns of Kafr Sajna, al-Latimina, al-Alia, Kafr Zita and al-Zirbah, he said.
Regime warplanes targeted the city of Binnish for the first time in a year, even though it is located within the de-escalation and truce zone announced last year.
Al-Idlibi said the airstrikes on the city of Idlib targeted the local administration building, which was reduced to rubble after being hit with two rockets, and a bus depot that connects the city to all the province’s rural areas.
