Terrorist infighting intensifies in Syria’s Idlib

A fresh wave of infighting has erupted between rival anti-government groups in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, leaving a number of militants dead or injured.

Militants from 13th Division of the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) and al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front terrorists engaged in a fighting in Idlib’s Ma’arrat al-Numan district, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Sunday.

According to the report, the skirmishes left six FSA militants dead and 40 others wounded while dozens more were taken captive.

Two armored vehicles belonging to foreign-sponsored FSA elements were destroyed and the militants were forced to leave their positions.

Meanwhile, other clashes were reported between Takfiri Daesh terrorists and armed militiamen near a village located in the northern suburb of Aleppo as well as on the southern outskirt of Hasakah.

The clashes come at a time that Syria’s warring parties are gearing up to resume the UN-brokered peace talks due on March 14 in the Swiss city of Geneva.

The negotiations will take place amid a cessation of hostilities in the conflict-ridden country, which has stood since February 27.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. According to a February report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injuring 1.9 million others, and displacing nearly half of the country’s pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.