HTS attacks posts of SNA group in Syria’s Idlib
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) attacked on Thursday afternoon military posts of an armed group of the Turkish-backed opposition factions, also known as Syrian National Army (SNA), in the east of Idlib, northwestern Syria.
The attack was launched against military posts of the National Front for Liberation, which is a group affiliated with the SNA and incudes several armed factions, near the city of Saraqib, which is located in Idlib eastern countryside and controlled by the Syrian government forces. HTS carried out the assault with the aim of taking control of the posts to prepare the opening of a joint crossing with the Syrian government.
A military source in the National Front for Liberation told North Press that military groups affiliated with HTS attacked two of their military posts this afternoon in the area between Saraqib, and the town of Sarmin, which is under the control of HTS, east of Idlib. The HTS militants demanded those who were at the posts to surrender and withdraw.
After refusing to withdraw from their posts, the HTS opened fire, wounding two members of the National Front, the source added.
After that, the source said, the area witnessed sporadic clashes between the two parties, without reports of additional casualties, but eventually the HTS managed to push out the National Front members and take control of the posts.
According to the same source, the posts that HTS wants to control are located near the road between Saraqib and Sarmin, east of Idlib.
In response, al-Sham Legion, one of the National Front factions, closed the crossings of Deir Ballut in north of Idlib and al-Ghazawiya, northwest of Aleppo, which are connecting between the areas controlled by the SNA factions and HTS in Idlib Governorate, another source told North Press.