A suicide car bomber in northwestern Syria’s Idlib Province has attacked a building being used as a barracks for fighters from al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front and their allies. At least 12 Nusra fighters were killed, and scores more were wounded, mostly Jihadists affiliated with Nusra.
Exactly who the bomber is affiliated with is unclear, but there are several rival rebel coalitions within Idlib, including those linked with ISIS, and the groups are almost constantly warring and trying to pick one another off in the province.
Nusra has in recent days been rounding up large numbers of rivals, mostly those suspected of being part of the ISIS “sleeper cells” in Idlib, and it’s likely a safe bet that today’s bombing was seen as retaliation by some faction adversely impacted by those detentions.
Idlib Province is the last territory for many rebel groups, as apart from ISIS territory and the Kurdish region, only small strips of rebel-held land remain in Syria, mostly around the Jordan border. With most evacuation deals putting more rebels into Idlib, it’s created a powderkeg of rival factions, all eager to at least hold the prime position in this last rebel enclave.