HTS evicts families of foreign militants from houses in Syria’s Idlib
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) notified 24 families of foreign militants of Firqat al-Ghuraba group of French and Belgian nationals to evacuate their houses in Idlib Governorate, northwest Syria, under the pretext of belonging to the HTS institutions.
Firqat al-Ghuraba is an active jihadist group aligned with al-Qaeda based in opposition-held areas in Idlib Governorate in northwestern Syria. The group mostly consists of foreign militants from Europe with many, including the group’s leader, originating from France and Belgium.
A security source from the HTS in the town of Harem, west of Idlib, told North Press that the eviction of 24 French and Belgian families was ordered by the Shura Council, which heads the HTS, with the aim of cracking down on militants of the Firqat al-Ghuraba group to force them to work under the HTS’ authority.
The source added that foreign families had already begun to assemble their belongings and set up tents on the outskirts of Harem to relocate next to tents of other foreign families that were expelled in early June.
The town of Harem and Salqin contain around 125 families of foreign militants of the Firqat al-Ghuraba group, according to a source from the Development Office of the HTS in Harem.
On June 1, the HTS transferred four foreign detainees, one of whom is of French nationality, from Prison 107 in Idlib city to the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey in northern Idlib, in preparation for handing them over to Turkish intelligence.
Recently, the HTS has tightened the screws on the foreign militants who are not allied with it. Its prisons contain dozens of foreign militants whom Ankara wishes to receive, without knowing the purpose behind it.
The HTS, founded in 2017, controls the city of Idlib and the western countryside of Aleppo, using the Salvation Government as a political and administrative umbrella since.