(Zaman Al Wasl)- Militant Tahrir al-Sham group will take full control of the town of Atareb in northern Aleppo province after it agreed with rebels to dissolve two local factions, activists told Zaman al-Wasl.
The besieged Atareb came under heavy bombardment by Tahrir al-Sham on Saturday, in a scene recalled the brutal bombing of the Assad army on civil areas, activists said.
Tahrir al-Sham also seeks to arrest 250 people, including 8 women, from Atarteb.
The wanted women had incited people against the radical group and its mounting abuses, document obtained by Zaman al-Wasl showed.
Despite the fragile deal to end the five-day battle between the militant-led alliance and the National Liberation Front on Saturday, residents believe that massive offensive by Tahrir al-Sham is upcoming.
Observers say formerly known as Nusra Front takes the attack policy as the only way to defend its existence as regional powers agree to uproot militant groups from northern Syria.
Tahrir al-Sham seized more than 20 villages from rival rebels in the northern province of Aleppo, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The fighting has killed more than 100 fighters, according to the observatory.
"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, key unit in National Front, 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.
Since September, a buffer zone deal between rebel backer Turkey and regime ally Russia has shielded the Idlib region from a massive regime offensive.
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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