Unidentified gunmen kill, kidnap HTS members in Syria’s Idlib
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – Unidentified gunmen killed on Tuesday a member of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) and kidnapped another in Idlib Governorate, northwestern Syria.
An exclusive source told North Press that unknown individuals targeted, with light machine guns, Obada al-Hassoun, a security investigator within the HTS’ General Security Apparatus, while he was on his way from the village of Arab Saeed, west of Idlib, towards the city, where his body was found, according to some residents.
Another member called Khalifa al-Awad, has been missing since Tuesday evening on the Ariha road, south of Idlib, where his motorcycle was found dumped on the side of the road. No information was reported about his fate.
The source pointed out that the General Security Apparatus cordoned off the targeting site and began to search and check cars and identities, without obtaining any new information.
On Friday, an officer in charge of HTS patrols, was shot by unidentified gunmen in Jisr al-Shughur, 24 hours after the assassination of a top HTS security official named Ibrahim Mahmoud al-Ali by unknown attackers operating under the name of Saraya Dir’ al-Thawra.
The HTS, rebranded in 2017, controls the city of Idlib and western Aleppo Governorate, under the guise of the Salvation Government.
From the first months of the Syrian conflict against the Syrian government in 2011, Idlib witnessed brutal fighting that quickly ascended into civil war. The governorate has become a transit hub for the foreign fighters who travelled to Syria through Turkey to join jihadist groups. The HTS and the SNA share the control of the governorate.