Jihadist-rebel clashes intensify in Syria’s Idlib

BEIRUT: Clashes in Syria’s Idlib province between a powerful jihadist group and a key rebel faction intensified overnight, spreading to a border crossing with Turkey, a monitor and AFP correspondent said.

The running battles between the jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by a former al-Qaeda affiliate, and the Ahrar al-Sham rebel group have so far killed at least 65 people, including 15 civilians.

The clashes erupted earlier this week, and quickly spread through the province. Overnight, fierce battles raged in several parts of the province, including inside the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, which was previously fully controlled by Ahrar al-Sham.

“The fighting is now inside the crossing. It has become a battlefield, with part of it under Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s control, and part under Ahrar al-Sham’s control,” said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

An AFP correspondent in the province also reported heavy clashes on the outskirts of the town of Binnish and attempts by HTS to break into the village of Ram Hamdan.

HTS and Ahrar once formed the backbone of the Army of Conquest that captured most of Idlib province from the government in 2015. But tensions between the two factions have been rising for some time and the latest clashes erupted in part over Ahrar’s attempts to fly the flag of the Syrian revolution in the provincial capital Idlib city.