Following repeated attacks, armed groups in Idlib ban the veil and threaten violators
Idlib – North-Press
Recently, the “revolutionary council” of the armed militants in Taftannaz city and its neighboring villages made the decision to ban the veil in villages and among civilians, threatening that violators may be targeted.
This decision was due to the recent events in Idlib governorate, robberies by unidentified individuals that targeted the military headquarters of the Sham Legion and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), in addition to repeated theft and kidnapping all over Idlib.
Sources from the region mentioned that HTS is unable to control the security chaos despite the spread of its checkpoints throughout the region.
Late last year, the Sham Legion security apparatus announced the arrest of cells accused of bombings, assassinations, and theft. Allegedly this was due to their association with the Syrian government and the Islamic State (ISIS).
Abo Walid al-Shamy, an official in the Sham Legion, told North-Press that starting two weeks ago until last night, “our headquarters have been exposed to repeated attacks by unidentified individuals, which led to direct clashes with the attackers, who immediately fled.”
Al-Shamy confirmed that the perpetrators of the repeated attacks are unknown, adding "if we knew that, we would solve the issue.” He stated that the it was likely that they may be associated with the Assad regime or ISIS.
On Monday, masked gunmen attacked an HTS checkpoint near al-Yaqubia village near Jesser al-Shugour city in the western Idlib countryside, leading to intense clashes between the two parties which ended in the attackers’ escape.
Last Saturday-Monday night, west of Binnish city to the west of Idlib, unidentified individuals attacked an HTS checkpoint, leading to clashes between those manning the checkpoint and the attackers.
On the 8th of this month, a Sham Legion headquarters in Tiftanaz, Idlib countryside, was attacked by unidentified individuals. Clashes broke out in which members of Sham Legion were wounded.
On May 5th, unknown individuals attacked an HTS artillery headquarters near al-Fouaa village in the northern Idlib countryside.
On the third of this month, an armed group broke into and looted an HTS headquarters near al-Fouaa village, tying up the members and stealing weapons and equipment inside.
From the start of the year, a day has not passed without new acts of theft, according to local Syrian opposition media pages.
HTS is part of the National Front for Liberation, which is backed by Turkish forces and has been subject to the largest number of anonymous attacks.