Syria’s Idlib continues celebration of Taliban victory despite massacres in countryside
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – On Friday, celebrations of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) militants raised public resentment among residents of Idlib, northwest Syria, coinciding with two massacres by Syrian government forces in the Zawiya Mountain region.
HTS security apparatuses forced mosque preachers in the city to speak about the Taliban’s victories and bless its accomplishments in Afghanistan, local sources in Idlib told North Press.
After Friday prayers, HTS militants conducted celebratory parades in the city center amidst indiscriminate and intensive gunfire, causing panic among the residents, the sources added.
The celebration raised resentment and anger among residents, who consider it an underestimation of their and their children’s blood.
HTS militants and officials are celebrating and firing in Idlib while
solace houses are installed south of it, a resident, who asked to be unnamed, of Idlib told North Press.
“They are not concerned about the massacres and the ongoing shelling of the region,” he added.
On Friday morning, four children lost their lives due to government forces’ bombing of the town of Kansafra in Idlib countryside, northern Syria.
On Thursday, Damascus government forces shelled the town of Balshon in Zawiya Mountain killing five civilians including four children.
The military escalation between the government forces and the armed opposition groups comes despite the passage of more than a year of the ceasefire’s entry into force.