Protests in Idlib against Turkish silence over recent military escalation
Idlib – North-Press Agency
Mass demonstrations took place today on Friday in several cities and towns in Idlib governorate, protesting the Turkish silence over the ongoing military escalation in Idlib by the Syrian government and Russian forces, coinciding with a heavy security elements Hayat Tahrir al-Sham HTS (previously al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra) on the main roads, and the closure of some of them.
Ibrahim al-Hamwi, a media activist told North-Press that thousands of protesters gathered after Friday prayers in the main square of the town of Sarmada, northern Idlib, and then headed towards Bab al-Hawa border-crossing with Turkey, but Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militants deployed in the area have placed concrete bands to prevent the demonstrators from arriving at the border gate, preceded by the closure of most roads to Sarmada and Bab al-Hawa to prevent the civilians by approaching the border gate.
Al-Hamwi added that the demonstrators demanded the Turkish guarantor to stop the bombing of the cities and towns of the southern and southeastern countryside of Idlib, and to stop the military advance of the Syrian government forces, in addition to demanding the armed opposition groups to open military fronts and axes against the Syrian government forces, "stressing their solidarity with the city of Maarat al-Numan and its countryside, which is witnessing heavy bombing with various types of weaponry, amidst heavy displacement movement from the city and its countryside.”
Al-Hamwi indicated that members of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham fired gunfire in the air, near the police barrier on Bab al-Hawa road, after the demonstrators demolished the concrete wall that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham had built, noting that it had arrested some activists and demonstrators.
The demonstrations of Bab al-Hawa and Sarmada coincided with similar demonstrations in the towns of Kafr Takharim, the city of Idlib, Binish and the IDP camps on the Syrian-Turkish borders, amid reports indicating of military reinforcements by the Turkish forces arriving close to Bab al-Hawa border-crossing, with full mobilization of Turkish points and guarding centers near the camps.
It is noteworthy that tens of thousands of demonstrators had managed to enter Bab al-Hawa crossing at the end of last August of this year, and crossed into the Turkish territories, but the Turkish border guards or the Jandarma, confronted the demonstrators with direct fire, which led to the injury of tens of demonstrators.
The Syrian government and the Russia forces have been launching a heavy aerial and ground bombardment campaign since the beginning of December this year, in various areas of Idlib governorate, and both Hama and Latakia countryside, where they managed to take control over several villages and towns east of Idlib this morning, after fierce battles against the armed opposition groups and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.