SYRIAN REBEL WARS: AL-QAEDA AND AL-ZENKI REACHED CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT. 100 MILITANTS REPORTEDLY DIED IN CLASHES

On November 12, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda) and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement reached a ceasefire agreement, according to the HTS-linked news agency Iba’a. The source said that the ceasefire is sponsored by leaders of the local tribes.

Earlier, public figures from Atarib town in the western Aleppo countryside called on Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement to stop the clashes, and stressed that the locals will defend their areas from any attackers this time.

Before the ceasefire took place, Iba’a announced that the Ajnad al-Sham armed group joined HTS. In an official statement, Ajnad al-Sham said that it chose to be a part of “the Sunni body”.

Meanwhile, the Hezbollah media wing in Syria revealed that 100 fighters were killed in the clashes between HTS and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement in the western Aleppo countryside. The high number of casualties suggests that the groups will likely clash with each other again.

Although of all the rumors about the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement advances in the last few days, local sources confirmed that HTS still controls all of its strategic positions in the western Aleppo countryside. It was once again confriemd that all the opposition armed groups can’t win a battle against HTS without a direct support from a foreign power.

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