Rebel Infighting Escalates in Northwest Syria – Reuters
Clashes among rival Syrian rebel factions have spread across northwest Syria, rebels and residents said Thursday, in the latest bout of tit-for-tat fighting between opponents of President Bashar al-Assad's rule.
Infighting has long plagued Syria's armed opposition since the uprising against Assad began in 2011. Turf wars have helped the Syrian president, with his Iranian and Russian allies, recover much of the territory previously held by rebels.
Tahrir al Sham, formerly affiliated with al-Qaida, had launched an attack Tuesday against towns in the western countryside of Aleppo held by Nour al Din Zinki, a member of the mainstream National Liberation Front (NLF), the rebels and residents told Reuters by telephone.
The Islamist group, which Wednesday seized the town of Darat Izza, said it was retaliating for an ambush this week that killed five of its fighters. It blamed Nour al Din Zinki.
Ideological differences divide hardline Islamist militants from nationalist groups in the Free Syrian Army that have gathered under the banner of the NLF, which has the backing of Syria's neighbor Turkey…