Nusra Front, Zinki movement reach agreement in Aleppo

Al-Qaeda's Syria branch, the Nusra Front, has reached an agreement with rival group Nour Eddin al-Zinki in the western countryside of Aleppo, a day after a gun-fight left casualties from both warring groups, activists said Wednesday.

Nusra and al-Zinki to release prisoners of each side and to remove the disputed al-Abezmo checkpoint that was affiliated to al-Zinki.

Tuesday's clashes had taken place in Ma'rret al-Artique and al-Abezmo villages when Nusra Front fighters attacked al-Zinki checkpoints, seizing control of some points and killing 5 fighters.

 A well-informed source told Zaman al-Wasl that the infighting flared up when al-Zinki group refused to launch joint attacks on Democratic Union forces (PYD) in Sheikh Maqsoud, the predominantly Kurdish neighborhood.

 In remarkable event, tens of people took to the streets of rebel-held Bustan al-Qasr neighborhood on Tuesday chanting against Nusra Front and echoing the first slogans of Syrian revolution. Asking God to curse the soul of Nusra leader, Abu Mohammad al-Golani.

Another protest organized by local activists of al-Soukari neighborhood against members of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) after  a week of targeting civilians on the road of Castello near Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood.

Activists accused the Kurdish militia of coordinating with Syrian army and trying to open a crossing with government-held areas.

Aleppo, once the commercial center of Syria, has been divided since 2012, with government forces controlling much of western Aleppo and rebel groups in control of the east.

Syria's uprising and civil war has killed more than 250,000 people since it began in March 2011.