After almost a solid week of losses at the hands of al-Qaeda, the
Turkey-backed National Liberation Front has reached a deal with al-Qaeda
on a 15-day truce.
Both seem to be expecting this to lead to more fighting, and are using
it to shore up their forces on their new frontier with one another.
That fighting is likely to be at the important Idlib Province city of
Maarat al-Numaan, as the truce was reached just as al-Qaeda was
approaching the outskirts, but before the city itself could be attacked.
The fighting between the two sides began early last week. According to
al-Qaeda, the Nureddin al-Zimki, one of the NLF members, attacked them
and killed some of their members. Over the next week, counterattacks saw
al-Qaeda seize roughly 25 towns and villages.
Maarat al-Numaan is on the main road connecting Aleppo and Hama, and is
subsequently of considerable value to the rebels, or to the government.
Though so far the Syrian government has not intervened, there is growing
expectation that further al-Qaeda gains would virtually oblige them to
move in and prevent al-Qaeda from getting too big.
Turkey-backed Syrian Rebels, al-Qaeda Reach 15-Day Truce
Truce leaves al-Qaeda on outskirts of key Idlib city
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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