Infighting kills Turkish-backed militants in northern Syria

Infighting between rival groups in Syria’s northern provinces of Aleppo and Idlib has ended in the killing and injuring of several Turkish-backed Takfiri terrorists.

Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Syria’s official news agency SANA that fierce clashes broke out between militants affiliated to the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham Takfiri terrorist group, formerly known as the al-Nusra Front, and terrorists controlling several neighborhoods in Ariha town, located south of Idlib, upon a conflict over influence and sharing properties left by their owners, who fled the area after the Turkish incursion in October.

The Jabhat Fateh al-Sham outfit later dispatched a convoy of terrorists, armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), to the region, exacerbating the gunfight, which is reportedly still in progress.

Separately, members of the Turkish-backed and so-called Northern Brigade militant group clashed with rival terrorists in Azaz city, situated about 32 kilometers (20 miles) northwest of Aleppo.

Immediately after the outbreak of the fighting, reinforcements from the so-called Ahrar al-Sharqiya terrorist group arrived to the area to support their allies. The infighting has so far left more than 23 terrorists from the warring parties dead, and Turkish military forces are said to be unable to bring the situation under control.

Turkish-backed militants were deployed to northern Syria last October after Turkish military forces launched a long-threatened cross-border invasion in a declared attempt to push the YPG militants away from border areas.

On October 22 last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, signed a memorandum of understanding that asserted the YPG militants had to withdraw from the Turkish-controlled "safe zone" in northeastern Syria within 150 hours, after which Ankara and Moscow would run joint patrols around the area.

SS