BEIRUT: Syrian rebel groups scrambled Friday to head off a potentially explosive round of clashes in northwest Idlib province between a leading, U.S.-backed militia and the Nusra Front, al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria.
Anti-regime activists in Idlib accused the Nusra Front of derailing the truce efforts underway by storming the village of Deir Sunbol, the headquarters of Jamal Maarouf, who heads the Syria Rebel Front.
The Syria Rebel Front, part of the umbrella Free Syrian Army, is one of a number of rebel militias that have received American weapons and training this year.
An anti-regime activist based in Idlib told The Daily Star the clashes, which broke out just before dawn, had ended by early morning, as fighters from at least a dozen other rebel groups fanned out in the province to enforce a tenuous calm.