Syrian government forces, rebels clash in quake-hit region

Syrian government forces and rebels have clashed overnight in northwest Syria for the first time since an earthquake devastated the region on Feb. 6, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Friday.
The northwest, one of the region’s most badly affected by the earthquake that hit Syria and Turkey, is controlled by insurgents opposed to the government of President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus.
The Observatory said government forces had shelled the outskirts of the rebel-town of Atareb. This coincided with clashes with heavy machine guns between government and rebel forces at a nearby frontline, it said.
Observatory Director Rami Abdulrahman said 235 people in Atareb and the nearby areas had died in the earthquake.
More than 4,400 people were reported killed by the earthquake in the northwest, according to a U.N. agency, the bulk of the fatalities in Syria.