Tahrir al-Sham launches new recruitment campaign in Idlib

Aya Ezz

Tahrir al-Sham has launched a recruitment campaign in the areas under its control in northern Idlib province, which is part of the western countryside of Aleppo.

The new campaign is clear in the streets of this part of the city, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Defections

The recruitment campaign came after a wave of new defections swept through Tahrir al-Sham.

According to the American news site, Al-Monitor, these defections were caused by the ‘misguided’ policies of the Tahrir al-Sham command in the past period.

Tahrir al-Sham is an unorganized terrorist entity bent on gaining power, regardless of the cost.

The defections were made by a large number of senior Tahrir al-Sham officials, Al-Monitor said.

The defections also demonstrated rifts within the organization, it added.

Al-Monitor attributed the rifts to two main factors: The separation of Tahrir al-Sham from al-Qaeda and the pragmatic approach of Tahrir al-Sham’s commanders.

The same commanders sought to conclude agreements to obtain international support.

This angered the senior officials of the organization.

Beginnings

Tahrir al-Sham began to suffer from a crisis of dissent in January 2017, after it fought armed factions in Idlib.

Those battles were also repeated at the beginning of 2018, when the organization, the most powerful in northern Syria, was able to expel other factions from large areas in Idlib.

Tahrir al-Sham gained control over 60% of the province, while the other factions, especially Ahrar al-Sham Movement, controlled the remaining parts of the province.

Tahrir al-Sham also controlled the most important commercial crossings in Idlib.

In addition, the policies pursued by Tahrir al-Sham’s commander, Abu Mohamed al-Julani, including fighting against rival factions and the enforcement of organization regulations on all its members, caused a retreat from the same organization.

This also caused some of the factions that used to operate under the umbrella of Tahrir al-Sham to withdraw from the coalition.