This Article is missing information about key details regarding the Idlib clashes.(June 2020) |
Idlib Governorate clashes (June 2020) | |||||||||
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Part of the Syrian Civil War | |||||||||
Situation in Idlib Governorate as of 23 June 2020. Syrian Government and allies control | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
So Be Steadfast Operations Room
Supported by: al-Qaeda | |||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Abu Mohammad al-Julani | Abu al-Abd Ashidaa [2] Unnamed foreign commander † Abu Salah al-Uzbeki (POW) Abu Malik al-Tali (POW) | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
11 killed [3] | 18 killed [3] | ||||||||
1 civilian killed, 4 injured Dozens displaced [4] |
The Idlib Governorate clashes (June 2020) were a series of armed confrontations between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Be Steadfast Operations room, led by the Guardians of Religion Organization. The conflict began after HTS arrested the leader of the Ansar al-Din Front, Abu Salah Al-Uzbeki, and a dissenting leader of a group within HTS. [5]
On 5 March 2020, a cease-fire was agreed to between Russia and Turkey, ending the battle for the province that began in December 2019. [6] Several hard-line jihadist groups rejected the ceasefire. On 12 June, the Be Steadfast Operations Room was formed, to continue violating the cease-fire. [7]
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham was engaged in a campaign of arrests of opponents and extremist fighters in areas of Idlib province under its control. [8] HTS arrested several leaders of the new operations room, including Abu Salah Al-Uzbeki, leader of the Ansar al-Din Front, and dissenter Abu Malik al-Tali, leader of the Muqatileen al-Ansar Brigade which defected from HTS. [9] [5]
The Guardians of Religion Organization set up several checkpoints in areas west of Idlib city, and refused to dismantle them according to HTS. [10]
In response to the arrests of several senior leaders, the Be Steadfast Operations Room deployed fighters to checkpoints in the areas of Armanaz, Arab Said, and Malas. HTS put its fighters throughout the province on high alert. [11] [5]
On 23 June, according to pro-government Al-Masdar News, fighting began between the two sides. The Guardians of Religion Organization captured Idlib Central Prison, and the Kansarwah factory, as well as several housing blocks west of Idlib city. [12] Clashes continued until the end of the day, temporarily halting before resuming the following day. [13]
On 24 June, the two sides brought in vehicles and soldiers to their areas and checkpoints. HTS attacked the Be Steadfast Operations Room's stronghold of Arab Said with tanks and artillery, leading to clashes between the two sides with heavy weapons, while clashes resumed west of Idlib city. [14] Hurras al-Din fighters attacked the Al-Yaqoubiya village checkpoint, and seized control from Tahrir al-Sham. Janudiyah was also seized. Multiple roads between towns witnessing fighters were cut, as civilians fled from Arab Said, which witnessed heavy fighting. [15] 9 fighters from either side were killed, and four civilians were injured in the clashes. [16] However, according to Al-Masdar, clashes continued around the western outskirts of Idlib as the Guardians of Religion Organization advanced towards the city reportedly capturing ground from HTS. [17]
The next day on 25 June, the cease-fire collapsed, with clashes resuming west of Idlib as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham strengthened its positions with gear, soldiers, and vehicles. Meanwhile, HTS brought in reinforcements for a new assault on Arab Said. [18] On the same day a former rebel fighter from the Suqour al-Sham Brigades was injured and died from his injuries during clashes west of Idlib city, when a stray artillery shell landed near his home in the village of Ma'artin. [19] Clashes continued through the day as both HTS and the Be Steadfast Operations Room exchanged shelling west of Idlib around Arab Saeed, during the clashes 5 Guardians of Religion Organizations fighters were killed and 4 HTS fighters were also killed. [20] After intervention from Shuria men and elders in the Jisr ash-Shugur countryside, Hurras al-Din withdrew from the Al-Yaqoubiya checkpoint and headed to areas near the villages of al-Harameh and Zarzour. As heavy fighting continued in Arab Said, HTS managed to recapture the Idlib Central Prison from HaD, and stationed heavy weapons and vehicles at the site. One tracked vehicle was destroyed by HaD during the clashes. The death count rose to 19, with 12 HaD and 9 HTS fighters confirmed dead. [21]
On 26 June, clashes once again resumed after an initial calm. HTS advanced in the Arab Said area, capturing the water purification station and the Armanaz well. Hurras al-Din released an official statement announcing its willingness to remove the checkpoints under the condition that negotiations be held regarding the prisoners, and a judicial commission take up the issues raised. [22] The two sides reportedly reached a new agreement: Hurras al-Din fighters could stay in Arab Said with their weapons, and anyone who wished to leave would be allowed to. The captured leaders would be tried by the Turkestan Islamic Party. The organization pledged to close all its headquarters and vow not to set up any more checkpoints. [23] HaD was also to withdraw from all territory captured from HTS. [8] The Be Steadfast Operation Room's fighters were allowed to withdraw to rebel-held areas of Latakia, where some of its affiliates were stationed. [24]
Despite the ceasefire, HTS attacked checkpoints of the Be Steadfast coalition in al-Hamameh village and its surrounding areas, and in the Sarmada border area, while also raiding headquarters in Sarmada and Sahel. Hurras al-Din condemned the actions, calling them a "treachery" which may revoke the agreements if they continued. [25]
HTS resumed its actions against The Guardians of Religion Organization, sending out a statement declaring that all factions were to unify after the Fateh Mubin operations room, preventing any other coalitions from being formed and operating in Idlib governorate. [26] On 28 June HTS stormed Arab Said and arrested prominent HaD commander Abu Omar Manhaj. [27]
Saraqib is a city in northwestern Syria, administratively belonging to the Idlib Governorate, located east of Idlib. During the course of the Syrian Civil War, the city fell into rebel forces in 2012 and was recaptured by the Syrian Army in 2020.
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The Idlib Governorate clashes , were military confrontations between Syrian rebel factions led by Ahrar al-Sham and their allies on one side and the al-Qaeda-aligned Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and their allies on the other. After 7 February, the clashes also included Jund al-Aqsa as a third belligerent, which had re-branded itself as Liwa al-Aqsa and was attacking the other combatants. The battles were fought in the Idlib Governorate and the western countryside of the Aleppo Governorate.
Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, commonly referred to as Tahrir al-Sham, is a Sunni Islamist political and armed organisation involved in the Syrian Civil War. It was formed on 28 January 2017 as a merger between Jaysh al-Ahrar, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (JFS), Ansar al-Din Front, Jaysh al-Sunna, Liwa al-Haqq, and Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement. The unification process was held under the initiative of Abu Jaber Shaykh, an Islamist commander who had been the second Emir of Ahrar al-Sham.
The Idlib Governorate clashes were a series of military confrontations between Ahrar al-Sham and Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). During the clashes, Tahrir al-Sham attempted to capture the Bab al-Hawa Border Crossing, causing concern for Turkey, which prefers Ahrar al-Sham to be in control of the crossing. As a result of the clashes, HTS took control of Idlib city, the Bab al-Hawa Border Crossing, and most of the areas along the Turkish border in the Idlib Province.
The Hama offensive , code-named Oh Servants of God, Be Steadfast, was a military offensive launched by rebel groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) north of the city Hama, as part of the Syrian Civil War.
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Tanzim Hurras al-Din sometimes also known as Al-Qaeda in Syria, is a Salafi Jihadist organization fighting in the Syrian civil war. The group's head, Abu Humam al-Shami, was the general military commander of the defunct Al-Nusra Front, and had fought for Al-Qaeda in the 1990s Afghan civil war and the Iraqi insurgency. Hurras al-Din was established by the leaders of the AQ-affiliated Khorasan group and Al-Qaeda loyalists of Al-Nusra Front who opposed Jabhat Fatah al-Sham 's dissolution and merger with other Islamic groups to form Tahrir al-Sham. Abu Humam Al-Shami announced the formation of Hurras al-Din on 27 February 2018.
Jaysh al-Ahrar, is an armed Salafi Islamist rebel group in northwestern Syria that originated as a clique composed of 16 units in Ahrar al-Sham that opposed involvement in Operation Euphrates Shield, after a fatwa was released by religious clerics in Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, which led to the group's separation from Ahrar al-Sham.
Ansar al-Tawhid is an armed Islamist group fighting in the Syrian Civil War. The group is made up of former Jund al-Aqsa members. It was allied with Al-Qaeda and part of the Hurras al-Din-led Rouse the Believers Operations Room until May 2020, when it announced its departure from the coalition.
The Idlib demilitarization was an agreement between Turkey and Russia to create a demilitarized zone (DMZ) in Syria's rebel-held Idlib Governorate, to be patrolled by military forces from Russia and Turkey. On 17 September 2018, the Russian president Vladimir Putin and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, reached an agreement to create a buffer zone in Idlib.
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Insurgency in Idlib is an ongoing insurgency in the regions Idlib Governorate between multiple factions. The conflict is primarily between the supporters of Syrian Salvation Government and forces loyal to Syrian Arab Republic. Other factions participating in insurgency range from the Syrian opposition forces in the Syrian National Army supported by Turkey; to supporters of Al-Qaeda branch Hurras al-Din and members of the Islamic State group. The insurgency has been marked by assassinations and bombings, as well as armed confrontations with small arms and raids.
Al-Fatah al-Mubin or Great Conquest is a Sunni Islamist operations room of Syrian rebel and jihadist factions participating in the Syrian civil war. The operations room was declared in June 2019, evolving from the "Damascus Conquest" operations room formed in May during the Syrian Army's Dawn of Idlib 1 campaign and consists of rebel groups operating in opposition-held areas of northwestern Syria concentrated in Idlib. The three groups comprising the coalition are Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Turkish-backed National Front for Liberation, and Jaysh al-Izza. In October 2020, HTS and two leading factions from the NLF began to finalize the creation of a Unified Military Council in Idlib.
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