Al-Qaida linked Nusra Front withdraws key Syrian province

Al-Qaida’s Syria affiliate Al-Nusra Front has announced a surprise withdrawal from its front lines against its jihadist rival Islamic State in areas along Syria’s northern border with Turkey.

 

It said the decision was being taken to avoid cooperating with a US-Turkish plan to create an IS-free zone in northern Aleppo province, along the Turkish border.

 

“We announce our withdrawal from our front lines with the ‘khawarij’ (IS) in northern parts of Aleppo province,” the group said in an online statement published Sunday.

 

It did not specify which parts of the frontline with IS the group would withdraw from.

 

Al-Nusra is a key opponent of IS in the northern province of Aleppo along with its powerful Islamist ally Ahrar al-Sham.

 

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