HTS reaches Syria’s Afrin amid displacement

AFRIN, Syria (North Press) – On Thursday, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front), with the support of some Turkish-backed armed Syrian opposition factions, had full control over al-Mahmoudiya neighborhood in the city of Afrin north of Aleppo.

This happened following withdrawal of the Third Legion from its sites in the villages of Marateh, Kafr Shil and the northern countryside of Afrin.

Well informed sources told North Press that the HTS gained full control over al-Mahmoudiya neighborhood in Afrin and entered Afrin Hospital, turning it into a military headquarters after expelling the medical team from it.

The sources added the Turkish-backed Hamza, Suleiman Shah (al-Amshat) divisions supported the HTS in battles with the Third Legion, another faction of the Syrian National Army (SNA) backed by Turkey, as movement across the areas held by the SNA factions was halted in general. 

Foreign fighters involved in the fighting alongside the HTS, according to the sources.

In tandem with the HTS advancement towards the city, dozens of residents fled their areas through orchards and fields to the cities of Azaz and Jarablus north of Aleppo.

A medical source from Afrin Hospital stressed though there are several dialysis patients and others in resuscitation department, the HTS and al-Amshat Division expelled the medical team from the hospital in addition to the damages caused to ambulances due to clashes.

On Wednesday, HTS seized the two districts of Jindires and Mabatli in addition to the two villages of Kurzeleh and Basouta in Afrin countryside following fierce clashes with armed factions of the Turkish-backed SNA.

Afrin, a Kurdish city in the north of Aleppo, has been under the occupation of Turkey since March 2018 following a military operation “Olive Branch” which resulted in the displacement of about 300.000 people of the original inhabitants of the city and its countryside.

The SNA-held areas in northern Syria continue to witness insecurity, instability and chaos due to the factions’ failure to hold the situation under control.

Reporting by Hani Salem