SNA factions close crossings link their areas of control to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham areas
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – Following the ongoing clashes between the Turkish-backed opposition SNA factions in eastern Aleppo, the SNA closed the crossings between their areas of control, north of Aleppo, and the areas controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Idlib.
“The Turkish-backed Sham Legion faction closed the Deir Ballut – Atma and Ghazawiya crossings – Darat Azza, north and northwest of Aleppo, which separate the areas of al-Oula and Tahrir al-Sham areas in Idlib,” informed military sources told North Press.
This closure came in tandem to violent clashes in the al-Bab and Jarablus areas, northeast of Aleppo, between Ahrar al-Sham and the Sham Legion factions since last night, resulting in the deaths of seven people and wounding at least 15 others, including children, the sources said.
According to the same sources, members of Ahrar al-Sham and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham who are present in Idlib have mobilized dozens of members and military vehicles in the Atma and Ghazawiya areas opposite Afrin, northwest of Aleppo, amid reinforcements by the SNA in Afrin countryside.
Activists expect that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, in cooperation with Ahrar al-Sham, will storm the areas controlled by the SNA in Afrin in the coming hours.
Turkey has occupied the city of Afrin and its countryside since March 2018, following a military invasion by the Turkish forces and their affiliated SNA factions called “Olive Branch”. Since then, the region has gone through killing incidents, trees’ cutting and arrests.
Since 2017, the city of al-Bab in the eastern countryside of Aleppo has been under the control of the Turkish-backed opposition factions.
These areas, however, continue to witness a state of security chaos, accompanied by explosions and continuous fighting, amid the factions’ inability to maintain security.