Beirut: The main jihadist alliance in Syria’s Idlib region reached a deal on Thursday ending days of deadly fighting with rival rebels and extending its influence over the whole rebel enclave. The agreement brings an immediate end to the fighting between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by Al-Qaeda’s former Syria affiliate, and the rival Turkish-backed National Liberation Front (NLF), according to the jihadists’ propaganda website Ebaa. “This morning, HTS and the NLF signed an agreement to put an end to ongoing fighting… and establish the control of the salvation government in all areas,” Ebaa said.
The so-called “salvation government” is the administrative arm of HTS, which has been gaining ground inside Syria’s last major rebel bastion in recent days. Since September, Idlib has been shielded from a threatened government offensive by a precarious truce agreed between government ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey.
