Rebel Group Flees Headquarters, Ending Clash With Al-Qaeda Offshoot in Syria

Clashes between members of al-Qaida’s branch in Syria and a rebel faction in the country’s north believed to have been trained by the U.S. government have stopped after the rebels left their headquarters, activists said on Saturday.

The fighting came a few days after the U.S. and Turkey announced the outlines of a deal to help rebels push Islamic State militants back from a strip of territory it controls along the Syrian-Turkish border, replacing it with more moderate rebels backed by Washington and Ankara.

Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said members of the so-called Division 30 faction fled to a nearby area controlled by a Syrian Kurdish militia. Abu al-Hassan Marea, a Syrian activist who is currently in Turkey near the Syrian border, confirmed on Saturday that Division 30 fighters have withdrawn from their headquarters.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL