Skirmishes continue between Tahrir al-Sham and Hurras al-Din terrorists

Aya Ezz

The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) organization in Idlib governorate in northern Syria launched an extensive security campaign against its main rival, Hurras al-Din, and arrested six leaders and a number of members of the terrorist organization on charges of spying on HTS and providing information to ISIS, according to what was reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Baladi News. This was not the first dispute that has taken place between HTS and Hurras al-Din.

Beginning of the crisis between them

According to the Syria-based Omran Center for Political and Strategic Studies, the beginning of the crisis was in February 2018, when the first military skirmish took place between the two terrorist organizations, after a media war and an exchange of accusations between the two parties. Hurras al-Din accused HTS of deviating from what they called the “jihadist project”, as the former intends to start targeting the enemy near and far at the same time, as a sign of the start of the phase of military action against the organization.

These events resulted in Hurras al-Din being supported by most of the ideologues of the Salafi-jihadist movement, and it received direct support and funding from al-Qaeda. It also attracted a large number of foreign fighters that Mohammad al-Julani tried to get rid of.

On February 10, 2018, military clashes renewed between Hurras al-Din and HTS, specifically in the town of Tal Hadiya in the southern countryside of Aleppo, and the battles extended to areas in the countryside of Hama and Latakia, which ended after mediation by some legitimate scholars.

On December 13, 2019, HTS and Hurras al-Din reached an agreement to resolve the dispute between them in Idlib, with the mediation of Ansar al-Islam. The agreement at the time stipulated the release of detainees on both sides and the formation of a joint judicial committee, with a 24-hour deadline for the agreement.

The agreement stressed the handing over of all detainees to the formed committee, and the terms of the agreement indicated that a person named Sheikh Abu Abdul Karim, who is close to HTS, would supervise the committee’s work, with a guarantee from the Ansar al-Islam group.

Ceasefire agreement

After that, HTS’s support for the Sochi agreement constituted a new point of contention between HTS and Hurras al-Din, especially since the latter reiterated in more than one statement its disagreement and non-compliance with any ceasefire agreement in the region, as well as its keenness to spread its threats against any international organization operating in a manner that contradicts or opposes its terrorist aspirations, and it targeted a Turkish convoy in Idlib with an explosive device, which resulted in the killing and wounding of a number of Turkish soldiers.

HTS took advantage of that incident and proceeded to immediately escalate the sites of Hurras al-Din in the region in conjunction with an advertising campaign that included its rejection of such attacks on Turkish sites, as HTS intended to suggest that it is part of the solution and not part of the problem by securing the progress of the M4 agreement and attacking any organizations that obstruct the agreement or target the Turkish points.

Recognition as an international powerhouse

HTS leaders hope that the attack on Hurras al-Din will be a gateway for it to be accepted or recognized as the only local force in Idlib, at least for the time being.

This was confirmed by Syrian political activist Rayan Marouf, who said that HTS is tightening the screws on Hurras al-Din for obstructing their interests in Idlib. On the other hand, HTS’s fight against Hurras al-Din and all terrorist organizations in the province headed by ISIS will deliver a message to the West that HTS is fighting terrorism, as it wishes to be recognized as an international and local power in the region.