Fierce clashes between rebels and Syrian regime forces broke out Friday around a military base near the northern town of Maaret al-Numan in the “first violation” of a ceasefire, a watchdog said.
“Violent clashes started around 10:30 am (0730 GMT) around the Wadi Deif base. The army responded by bombing the neighbouring village of Deir Sharqi. It is the first violation of the ceasefire,” Rami Abdul Rahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP.
He said that among the rebel fighters were members of the Islamist Al-Nusra Front, which had already indicated it would not abide by the truce, agreed by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the main rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) for the four-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
There were no immediate indications from either the regime or the FSA that they considered the ceasefire had been violated.
