On November 11, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) fighters repelled an attack of the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement on Darat Izza town in the northern Aleppo countryside, according to the HTS-linked news agency Iba’a. The media outlet said that al-Zenki fighters shelled Darat Izza with heavy weapons and then tried to storm it.
Meanwhile, an official of the Ahrar al-Sham Movement said that Ahrar al-Sham and Jaysh al-Ahrar are preparing to support the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement against HTS, according to Syrian oppositions sources. However, the official stressed that the two groups have not taken military actions against HTS yet.
On September 13, Jaysh al-Ahrar announced its defection from HTS. Back then Jaysh al-Ahrar claimed that the decision was taken due to internal disagreement in HTS, especially the disrespect shown by HTS towards its religious scholars.
In another development, an official of Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement accused the Sham Legion of supporting HTS against it in the western Aleppo countryside. The official said that the Sham Legion handed over several positions to HTS allowing it to attack al-Zenki positions.
However, the Sham Legion denied the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement claims in an official statement, and said that it only deployed some checkpoints around some villages to prevent the fighting between HTS and al-Zenki from spreading to them.
Syrian opposition sources also reported on November 11, that four armed groups defected from HTS because of its ongoing war with al-Zenki. The sources said that the groups that dissented from HTS are Katibat al-Shaheed Firas abu Ayman, Katibat al-Shaheed Muhammad Yaseen Najjar, Katibat al-Shuhudaa al-Wastani and Katibat al-Farouq.