Hayat Tahrir al-Sham arrests former leader in Idlib, Syria

IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) arrested its former leader Abu Malek Tali on Monday on an order of leader Abu Mohammad Joulani after besieging his house in northern town of Sarmada in the northern Idlib countryside.

Tali formed an armed group after defecting from HTS in April, to join the Holdout Operations Room that was formed on June 12 to fight against Syrian government forces in the countryside of Idlib, Hama, and Latakia.

The new formation included groups who were previously part of the Rouse the Believers Operations Room, in addition to other jihadist groups, the most important of which are the Guardians of Religion Organization, Ansar Din Front, Jihad Coordination, Ansar Fighters Brigade and Ansar Islam Group.

Tali previously declared his rejection of Russian-Turkish agreements regarding the de-escalation zones via his Telegram channel in October 2018.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Jamal Zinya (Tali's real name) was responsible for the abduction of two nuns of Maalola in Rif Dimashq. They were released in March 2014, under agreements and a deal from which he received large sums of money.