On Sunday morning, calm returned to the villages of Abla, Shadoud, Tal Battal, and Awlan in the northern Aleppo countryside. The calm followed a long day of factional fighting between the Third Corps and groups affiliated with Ahrar al-Sham, with clashes ending in most parts of the region.
A local news correspondent in Aleppo countryside said that clashes had ceased in the villages of Abla, Tal Battal, Awlan and Shadoud. The one exception was Susian village, which witnessed sporadic clashes this morning.
According to Baladi News’ correspondent, the clashes resulted in the death of a child named Qamar Ghajar — who hails from the city of Andan — from injuries he sustained on Saturday. The injuries resulted from clashes between the Third Corps and Ahrar al-Sham in Abla village, north of Aleppo.
In this context, sources confirmed to Baladi News that Turkey is mediating between the warring parties to restore the situation to what it was two days ago. This mediation would restore Ahrar al-Sham headquarters in rural Aleppo and release prisoners in exchange for the group’s withdrawal from Afrin.
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Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took control of several villages and towns in Afrin at dawn on Sunday. The territorial gains followed clashes between HTS and members of the Levant Front, resulting in civilian casualties.
Previously, HTS has used a series of conflicts between national army fighters to build alliances with several parties in the Olive Branch areas. These alliances have come at the expense of other national army members, represented by Jaysh al-Islam and the Levant Front. These outcomes are considered to be HTS’ main objective at this stage.
Violent clashes broke out between the Levant Front faction on the one hand and the Ahrar al-Sham-Eastern Sector faction, on the other, in several areas of the al-Bab countryside, east of Aleppo. The clashes featured heavy machine guns and tanks, during which the Shami front took control of several Ahrar al-Sham headquarters.
Islamic Council
On Sunday, the pro-Turkish Syrian Islamic Council issued a statement regarding HTS’ invasion of the Olive Branch areas in northern Aleppo.
The statement called the military movements towards areas of the Syrian National Army in northern Syria “absolutely forbidden.”
The Council’s statement appealed to HTS fighters not to be mercenaries or participate in this aggression.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
