HTS hands over Saudi jihadist to Turkish intelligence
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly known as al-Nusra Front) handed over, at midnight on Saturday, a leader of Saudi nationality in the ranks of al-Qaeda to Turkish intelligence at Bab al-Hawa border crossing, north of Idlib, after spending four years detained in HTS’ prisons.
A security source told North Press that the Saudi leader, Nayef al-Shammari, nicknamed Abu al-Awf al-Jazrawi, was handed over under the supervision of Abu Maria al-Qahtani, the leader of the of HTS’ General Security Apparatus, as part of the continued handover of foreign fighters to Turkish intelligence.
Al-Shammari was considered one of HTS’ most prominent “Sharia scholars” in the Qalamoun region in Damascus during its rule there (al-Qaeda at the time), to move to Idlib in 2017 through smuggling routes, with the head of al-Nusra Front in Qalamoun, Abu Malik al-Tali and a number of leaders and fighters.
On June 1, HTS transferred four foreign detainees, one of whom is of French nationality, from Prison 107 in Idlib city to the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey in northern Idlib, in preparation for handing them over to Turkish intelligence.
This operation is the sixth of its kind in 2023. HTS’ prisons contain dozens of foreign militants whom Ankara wishes to receive, without knowing the purpose behind it.
HTS, rebranded in 2017, controls the city of Idlib and western Aleppo Governorate, under the guise of the Salvation Government.