Chaos, infighting metastasize in SNA-held areas in Syria’s Aleppo
ALEPPO, Syria (North Press) – Turkish-backed Syrian opposition factions, also known as the Syrian National Army (SNA), has been fighting each other for days following the assassination of a media activist and his wife by Hamza Division faction in al-Bab city in Aleppo eastern countryside, northern Syria.
The SNA were divided between the factions that support the Hamza Division – represented by the factions of Sultan Murad (al-Amshat) and Liwa Suqour al-Shamal – and those against Hamza, which are the Levant Front and Ahrar al-Sharqiya.
Jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), on its part, tried to exploit this unrest by advancing towards the Afrin region to take control of SNA areas.
The intra-factional clashes within the SNA comes after the Military Police, supported by the Levant Front faction, arrested two militants of Hamza Division, who were behind the assassination of activist Abu Ghannoum and his wife.
Taking territory
The SNA-held areas have witnessed, on Tuesday evening and up until Wednesday, accelerated events in which Hamza Division lost territory and several outposts in Aleppo countryside.
After imposing their control over al-Bab city, the SNA factions that fight against Hamza Division carried out new combing operations targeting outposts of the division in the eastern countryside of Aleppo, including the areas of Tel Battal and al-Ghandoura.
A local source reported that the area of Tel Battal witnessed fierce clashes between the factions of Levant Front and Ahrar al-Sharqiya on one hand, and the Hamza Division and Sultan Murad on the other.
Meanwhile, the Levant Front and Ahrar al-Sharqiya factions repelled the HTS in the vicinity of Jindires district, after clashing for several hours near al-Mahmoudiya camp and Deir Ballout village, sparking panic and fear among the camp residents, according to the source.
Not the first advance
The HTS is seeking to expand at the expense of the SNA-held areas in Afrin, taking advantage of the tension taking place between the latter’s factions.
The HTS’s movements in Afrin are not the first, as it has previously intervened in clashes between the factions of the Levant Front and Ahrar al-Sham.
Back then, the HTS intervened in the favor of Ahrar al-Sham and took control of al-Ghazawiya crossing, which connects between Aleppo and Idlib. But the HTS ceded the areas after a Turkish intelligence delegation meddled and made an agreement between the opposing sides.
The escalation between the Third Legion and HTS in Afrin coincides with information suggesting a meeting today on Wednesday between the Turkish Interior Minister and intelligence officials with leaders of the SNA factions.
The HTS took control of Korezli village after expelling the SNA factions, as it keeps advancing towards Afrin.
Displacement
The military escalation caused a displacement wave from the camps of al-Mahmoudiya and Atma, near Jindires district in the countryside of Afrin. The displaced people headed towards the areas of al-Dana and Sarmada in Idlib, after being caught up in mutual shelling between the two parties.
In addition, the SNA’s Education Directorate in the city of al-Bab suspended schools due to the ongoing clashes between the two parties.
The clashes completely disrupted commercial movement between Afrin and Idlib, as the crossings that connect both parties were completely closed in the Deir Ballout area towards Jindires and at al-Ghazawiya.