Dozens killed in fighting among jihadists in Syria

BEIRUT, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Dozens of fighters have been killed in two days of fighting between rival jihadist factions in northwestern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Tuesday. The fighting has pitted a jihadist group seen as ideologically close to Islamic State - Jund al-Aqsa - against a newly formed jihadist alliance spearheaded by a faction that was once al Qaeda's official affiliate in the war. The clashes between former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham and the hardline jihadist Jund al-Aqsa faction erupted on Monday morning, after tensions over influence in the northwestern province of Idlib. Tahrir al-Sham was formed in January from a merger of Syria‘s former branch of al Qaeda, previously known as the Nusra Front and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, along with several other Islamist groups

Jund al-Aqsa and Fateh al-Sham fell out late last year despite having previously aligned with each other, and insurgent sources and the Observatory say Jund al-Aqsa’s ideology is closer to that of Islamic State group, al Qaeda’s main jihadist rival. The toll has now risen to 69 dead from both sides in heavy clashes as well as executions, with the fighting spreading to the neighbouring province of Hama.
Rival fighters between Tahrir al-Sham and Jund al-Aqsa clash in Syria's northern Idlib Governorate, killing "dozens" according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.