HTS arrests 47 Sham Legion militants in Syria’s Idlib
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – During the past 48 hours, the General Security apparatus of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) arrested 47 militants of Sham Legion (Faylaq al-Sham), a faction affiliated with the Turkish-backed opposition, in the city of Idlib and its countryside, in northwest Syria.
The arrest campaign was launched in response to arrests of HTS militants in the city of Azaz, north of Aleppo, by Sham Legion.
An exclusive source told North Press that the 107th and 106th Security Bodies of HTS’ General Security arrested on Friday evening 13 militants of Sham Legion, five of whom were security officials.
The source added that the number of Sham Legion detainees who were arrested at mobile checkpoints and by raids on headquarters in the northern and northeastern countryside of Idlib has reached 47 since the campaign began on April 6.
The source noted that the HTS campaign followed the arrest of one of its militants by the Sham Legion’s security body, without any coordination with the HTS security office.
Following a meeting between the head of the HTS General Security, Moyaser al-Jabouri aka ‘Abu Maria al-Qahtani’, andleaders of Sham Legion and Suleman Shah Division (another Turkish-backed militia) in Atmeh, in northern Idlib, the number of arrests scaled down, according to the source.
The source added that the Sham Legion was first to coordinate and cooperate with HTS. Their cooperation was on full display when HTS entered Afrin months ago. The shift and rising tensions between the two parties reflects changes in the alliances in the region, imposed by Turkish intelligence, the source explains.