Turkish intelligence arrests SNA’s militants in Syria’s Tel Abyad
TEL ABYAD, Syria (North Press) – On Monday, the Turkish intelligence, in coordination with the Military Police of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA), arrested militants of an SNA faction in the city of Tel Abyad, northern Syria. Meanwhile, an SNA military vehicle was targeted in west of the city of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain), northeastern Syria.
An official from the Military Police in Tel Abyad told North Press, “After the assassination of an SNA leader who had close ties to Turkish authorities, Turkish intelligence conducted raids on the outposts of the SNA’s Levant Front [al-Jabha al-Shamiyah] faction in the city of Tel Abyad. The raids took place in the al-Mahatta and Eastern neighborhoods in Tel Abyad.”
The official further said that nine members of the Levant Front, including military leaders, were arrested in the raids for being involved in killing the leader on Sunday during clashes in Tel Abyad.
On Sunday, clashes broke out between two armed groups in the Levant Front over a drug shipment in Tel Abyad, resulting in the killing of two militants and the injury of five others.
The official said that the detainees were transferred to a prison of the SNA’s general security service for investigation, amid information indicating that three of them were transferred to Turkey to be investigated there.
Meanwhile, three militants of the Levant Front were killed and two others were injured in an explosion of an IED which targeted their military vehicle on the outskirts of the town of Mabrouka in the western countryside of Sere Kaniye.
The official in the Military Police said that the perpetrators are still unknown and expected the attack to be related to the conflict that took place in Tel Abyad on Sunday.
The Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad regions have been under the control of Turkish forces and SNA factions since October 2019 following a military operation dubbed ‘Olive Branch’.