Syria rebels 'negotiating Homs withdrawal' amid clashes in north
Rebel fighters are preparing to negotiate a withdrawal from Homs, the governor and local activists say, leaving government forces in full control of the provincial capital.
The governor of the western Syrian city, Talal Barazi, told the AFP news agency on Monday that a meeting planned for Tuesday will aim to reach "a final resolution of the situation in Waer," a district in the west of the city.
Barazi said a deal would "mean the evacuation of the armed men and their weapons, as well as the return of state institutions to the district".
"If the preparations under way succeed, a final settlement will be reached in the coming weeks," said Barazi.
Waer is the only part of the city that remains in the hands of the rebels after opposition forces left the Old City in May 2014.
Their withdrawal came after daily shelling during a two-year government siege that devastated what was once dubbed "the capital of the revolution".
That deal was overseen by the United Nations.
The Local Coordination Committees activist network said the Tuesday meeting was also to be held under the auspices of the UN. However, a representative declined to comment to AFP on the reports.
About 75,000 people live in Waer, down from 300,000 before the Syrian conflict began in March 2011.
As reports came of the possible withdrawal, it emerged the leader of a key opposition faction in Eastern Ghouta, Damascus, had resigned.
Abu Mohammed al-Fatih had headed the Eastern Ghouta branch of the Islamic Union of Soldiers of the Levant since June, when he took over from Zahran Alloush, who had moved to Turkey.
Fatih said in a string of tweets published on Monday that he was stepping down from the leadership of the group, citing "revolutionary change...and evolving leadership".
The Islamic Union of Soldiers of the Levant was established in 2013, and is a union of Islamist rebel groups that says it numbers around 15,000.
It is one of the key rebel groups fighting in Eastern Ghouta, a town just north-east of the capital Damascus that has been under siege by government forces since 2013.
Deadly clashes in north
Meanwhile, on Sunday, at least 23 fighters were killed in the fighting between the Kurdish-led alliance and a coalition of rebels that includes al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, al-Nusra Front, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Fifteen fighters from al-Nusra and its allies were killed, along with at least eight members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) dominated by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).
The clashes in the northern province of Aleppo began on Thursday, when the rebel coalition group attacked posts belonging to Jaish al-Thuwwar, an Arab armed group allied with Kurds, said Kurdish journalist Arin Shekhmos.
The assault, near the Turkish border region of Azaz, prompted sporadic fighting that drew in the SDF and also saw al-Nusra and its allies fire rockets at a Kurdish district of Aleppo city.
Syria's Kurds have long had tense relations with parts of the armed opposition, particularly its hardline elements.
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