HTS hands over foreign detainees to Turkish intelligence
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) –Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) handed over on Friday evening six foreign detainees to Turkish intelligence based on prior coordination between the two parties.
This is the second handover in the last three months.
A security source told North Press that a security delegation headed by Abu Muhammad al-Filastini, an official in the General Security Services (GSS) of the HTS, arrived at 9 pm at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing.
The official arrived accompanied by his personal protection and a closed well-guarded bus that included six detainees set to be to handed over according to secret agreements with the Turkish side, the source said.
“Prior to being released, the six detainees – including an Egyptian, a Saudi, two Moroccans, and a Pakistani – had languished in the central prison in Idlib for nearly four years on charges of belonging to the Islamic State (ISIS),” he added.
In June, a similar handover took place between the two parties.
Despite the fact that the HTS has many foreign Amirs (Islamic leaders) occupying sensitive positions, foreign militants of Jund al-Aqsa and Guardians of Religion, both designated terrorist groups by the US just like ISIS, who joined the HTS are concerned to face a similar fate after they left their former armed groups, the source noted.