(Zaman Al Wasl)- Seven people were wounded Friday when the Russian warplanes rocked rebel-held Idlib province despite a buffer zone deal brokered last September by Russia and Turkey.
The airstrikes targeted the towns of Khan Sheikhoun and al-Tamane'a.
The deal to create the demilitarized zone, running along the contact line between rebels and regime territory, staved off an army offensive against Idlib. But intermittent exchanges of fire have broken out in northwest Syria since the agreement between Russia, a key Bashar al-Assad's ally, and Turkey, which backs some rebel factions.
Also in northwestern Syria, militants of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham have gained ground Friday from rebels after four days of fighting that has killed more than 100 fighters, AFP reported.
Tahrir al-Sham, a militant-led alliance, seized more than 20 villages from rival rebels in the northern province of Aleppo, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
"HTS was able to take control of areas previously held by Nour al-din al-Zinki in the west of the Aleppo countryside," the Britain-based activist group said.
Those areas lie in the northeast of Syria's last major rebel bastion, which includes a large part of Idlib province as well as adjacent parts of Aleppo and Hama provinces.
The clashes broke out after HTS, which is led by Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate, on Monday accused Nour al-din al-Zinki of killing five of its fighters.
Fighting flared on Tuesday in the northern province of Aleppo before expanding to the neighboring provinces of Idlib and Hama in the following days.
Friday's fighting brought the death toll to 58 HTS fighters, 56 rebels, and eight civilians in four days, the Observatory said.
Over the past two years, HTS has regularly fought a rival alliance of rebels called the National Liberation Front, which includes Nour al-din al-Zinki, for territory in and around Idlib province.
Since the revolution erupted in 2011, more than 560,000 people have been killed, and more than 6 million people have been displaced.
Zaman Al Wasl
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