Rebels in Syria Announce Split From Western-Backed Opposition Group

Eid al-Adha marke by violence

BEIRUT -- The Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday was marked with the death of more than 20 people in an explosion in the southern Syrian province of Dara, government and opposition forces said Wednesday, and rebel factions in the area announced a break with the major U.S.-backed opposition coalition.

Meanwhile, in northern Syria, autonomy-minded Kurdish militiamen battled Al Qaeda-linked Arab rebels, leaving 42 dead, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition monitoring group. Secular Kurdish fighters for months  have been engaged in violent clashes with militant Islamist factions in northern and northeast Syria, homeland of the nation's Kurdish minority.