Tense anticipation prevails in western rural Aleppo after a ceasefire agreement was reached Wednesday (October 31st) between Tahrir al-Sham and the National Liberation Front (NLF), following bloody clashes that left a number of people dead and wounded.
Activist Musab Assaf told Diyaruna that despite the ceasefire, many families have opted to leave the rural areas towards Idlib city out of fear of renewed fighting between the two sides.
Fierce fighting broke out between extremist alliance Tahrir al-Sham and the Turkish-backed NLF on Monday in the planned buffer zone around the Idlib region.
The fighting left 13 dead in 24 hours, including seven from Tahrir al-Sham and two civilians.
A ceasefire and cessation of military operations agreement was signed in the early hours of Wednesday between the extremist alliance on one hand, and NLF groups Nureddine al-Zinki and Ahrar al-Sham on the other, Assaf said.
"Panic and fear prevail among civilians, many of whom opted to leave to safer areas near the city of Idlib, as both sides are still in a state of alert despite the agreement," he said.
"It is not the first time that fighting erupts between the two sides and is followed by a [ceasefire] agreement," he said, noting that the majority of the fighting is taking place in residential areas where the factions have taken up position.
The clashes started after Tahrir al-Sham’s insistence on expanding the area under its control at the expense of other factions, Assaf said.
The first clashes took place in the town of Kafr Hamra that Tahrir al-Sham tried to capture, which led to the fighting spreading to all areas in western rural Aleppo, as the town is a main NLF stronghold.
Fighting kills pro-government forces
Meanwhile at dawn Thursday, Tahrir al-Sham elements attacked a government position in eastern Idlib and killed four pro-regime fighters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
"Four regime fighters were killed in the assault, and a member of Tahrir al-Sham also died," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.
"There is an ongoing exchange of artillery fire between the two parties" in land that is part of the planned demilitarised zone, he said.
Regime ally Russia and opposition backer Turkey have agreed to set up a buffer zone around the Idlib region in September.
It was due to come into force in mid-October but some clauses of the plan have been delayed, as repeated clashes have erupted between extremists, opposition groups and government forces.