Clashes have broken out between two powerful insurgent groups in northern Syria, leaving at least two people dead.

The al-Qaida-linked Hayat Levant Liberation Committee and the Turkey-backed Nour el-Din el-Zinki group blamed each other for triggering Tuesday’s fighting in the northern province of Aleppo.

The government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media says the al-Qaida-linked fighters captured the villages of Taqad, Saadiyah and Habata. It added that fighting is ongoing in the town of Daret Azzeh.

The Levant Liberation Committee says Nour el-Din el-Zinki militants shot dead five people, including four of its fighters, last week.

The clashes are the first between the two former allies since they reached a deal to end similar fighting in October.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says two civilians were killed.

 
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