HTS admits presence of foreign fighters in Syria’s Idlib
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly Al-Nusra Front) admitted, yesterday, the presence of foreign fighters or those known as “al-Muhajirin” in Idlib, northwest Syria, two days after Australia designated it as a terrorist organization.
Last week, Australia listed HTS and the Guardians of Religion on its list of outlawed terrorist organisations.
This came through a statement issued by HTS, in which it obligated the families of migrant and foreign fighters to evacuate their houses in Idlib.
The HTS security services issued a warning to more than 30 families of various foreign nationalities of the necessity of evacuating their houses within a maximum period of 10 days, local sources told North Press.
HTS security forces summoned a number of members, while similar warnings were issued to the wives of detainees in HTS prisons, to evacuate their houses before the end of the specified period, without clearing the reasons, the sources added.
This step comes to pressure the fighters who work in formations outside the HTS faction, to join its ranks or leave its area of controls, according to the same sources.
The HTS is tightening the screws on members of other factions in Idlib, where it recently arrested several members and leaders of foreign nationalities, according to the residents.
Last October, HTS expelled Jund al-Sham faction, led by Muslim Abu Walid al Shishani, from Turkmen Mountain area in the northeastern countryside of Latakia, and arrested its leaders.