17 militants killed in Russian airstrike on HTS command post in Idlib

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
23 Aug 2023 00:46
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Among those targeted are high-ranking field commanders responsible for organizing and carrying out recent attacks on Syrian government forces in northern Latakia province.

Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham militants stand in front of a destroyed house in Atareb, Syria, on February 12, 2023. (AP)

According to Vadim Kulit, deputy head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria, Russian air fighters targeted a command post of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham organization (HTS) in a village southwest of Syria's Idlib on Monday.

In early August, Kulit revealed that terrorists are making attempts to cross the line of contact in Syria and enter Aleppo and Latakia provinces from the Idlib de-escalation zone.

"On August 21, a strike conducted by Russian aerospace forces at the command post of the Hayat Tahrir ash-Sham terrorist organization in the Faylun village (4 kilometers [2.4 miles] southwest of the city of Idlib) killed 17 militants, including several high-ranking field commanders responsible for organizing and carrying out recent attacks on Syrian government forces in northern Latakia province,” Kulit told a briefing.

The Second-in-Command of HTS was arrested last week at the direction of its commander, Abu Mohammad Al-Julani, local sources told Al Mayadeen, highlighting the ongoing stark division within the group.

Maysar Ali Mussa Abdullah Al-Jabouri, also known as Abu Maria Al-Qahtani, was the second-in-command of the terrorist group before he was arrested Tuesday. He is an Iraqi national who used to head the Shura Council of Al-Nusra Front before it changed its name to HTS.

As he faces internal resistance, Al-Julani also has people protesting against him and his militants in Idlib and the Aleppo countryside.

This comes in response to the ongoing violations by HTS including killings, arbitrary arrests, security pursuits, lootings, and home raids.

Meanwhile, HTS terrorists dispersed several demonstrations that were held near the town of Al-Dana, north of Idlib.

It is worth noting that a huge demonstration was held in Sarmada, a town north of Idlib, during which people from the Hama governorate staged a sit-in at the town's roundabout to demand the release of the governorate's notables who were arrested by HTS without any justification. The demonstration was promptly dispersed and activists were arrested and their equipment damaged.

Many activists demanded that the protests intensify in the areas under Al-Julani's control so that the world could see the reality of the West-backed terrorist group, which is clamping down on civilians and drowning them in poverty and hunger.