HTS arrests leaders of Turkish-backed Syrian faction in Idlib
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – On Friday, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) arrested two leaders of the Turkish-backed armed Syrian opposition factions in the northern countryside of Idlib, northwest Syria, after which the two parties declared a state of alert within their ranks.
“The security apparatus of HTS has arrested two leaders in the Hanano Brigade of the Turkish-backed Sham Legion, Ammar Shartah and Maher Jabas, who are from the city of Kafr Tekharim, north of Idlib,” sources of the opposition told North Press.
The sources added that the arrest took place near the border town of Darkoush with Turkey, west of Idlib, after the HTS deployed more than five temporary checkpoints there, which searched cars and checked the identities of the passersby.
The HTS effectively controls all of the Syrian opposition-held areas in Idlib governorate and parts of other governorates, and it administers them through the Salvation Government that was established in Idlib in late 2017.
The HTS transferred the leaders of the Hanano Brigade to al-Zanbaki prison, near the arresting site, amid tension between HTS and Sham Legion in Kafr Tekharim, according to the same sources.
So far, the HTS has not issued any clarification about this arrest.