 | |
| Type | State-owned enterprise |
|---|---|
| Industry | Fuel importation and processing |
| Founded | January 2017 |
| Headquarters | , |
| Owner | |
Watad Petroleum is a company that imports petroleum from Turkey to rebel[ clarification needed ]-held areas of northwestern Syria, where it is based. It was founded in the largely rebel-held Idlib Governorate in 2017 and is thought to be owned by the Salafi jihadist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
The company was established in 2017, reportedly shortly after the foundation of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) which is believed to own the company. [1] Watad had sourced petroleum from the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria until early 2018, when Turkey launched a military operation which cut trade routes between the Autonomous Administration and HTS. Watad then began dealing with an unnamed Turkish company which sourced petroleum from Ukraine via the Bab al-Hawa Border Crossing. In January 2018, the company was granted a monopoly over the importation, processing and pricing of fuel in areas controlled by the Syrian Salvation Government. [1] [2]
In January 2019, Watad began sending gas cylinders and petroleum to areas held by the Syrian government after fuel shortages were experienced. [3]
In November 2019, HTS arrested one of its commanders over a disagreement with Watad. The company demanded that locals selling oil work on behalf of Watad and trade exclusively in Watad products, and threatened to use force if compliance was not met. [4]
On 18 July 2020, suicide drones launched from government areas attacked Watad's fuel market in Sarmada. [5] On 31 July, the market was hit by three Grad rockets, causing several fires to break out. In retaliation, opposition and jihadist groups shelled government forces. [6]
Idlib Governorate is one of the 14 governorates of Syria. It is situated in northwestern Syria, bordering Turkey's Hatay province to the north, Aleppo Governorate to the east, Hama Governorate to the south, and Latakia Governorate to the west. Reports of its area vary, depending on the source, from 5,933 km2 to 6,097 km2. The provincial capital is Idlib.
The Ajnad al-Sham was an independent Idlib and Hama-based rebel group active during the Syrian Civil War. The group is named after Ajnad al-Sham. It joined the Army of Conquest on 24 March 2015 and took part in the Second Battle of Idlib. On 29 March 2014, it announced that its military leader, Abu Abdullah Taoum, was killed during clashes around al-Fouaa.
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-affiliated 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 (HTS), commonly referred to as Tahrir al-Sham, is an active Sunni Islamist militant group involved in the Syrian Civil War. It was formed on 28 January 2017 as a merger between Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, the Ansar al-Din Front, Jaysh al-Sunna, Liwa al-Haqq, and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement. After the announcement, additional groups and individuals joined. The merged group is currently led by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and former Ahrar al-Sham leaders, although the High Command consists of leaders from other groups. Many groups and individuals defected from Ahrar al-Sham, representing their more conservative and Salafist elements. The Ansar al-Din Front and Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement have since split off from Tahrir al-Sham. It had an estimated 20,000 members in 2019.
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.
The Syrian Salvation Government is a de facto alternative government of the Syrian opposition in Idlib Governorate, formed in early November 2017. There followed weeks of conflict between the Syrian Salvation Government (SSG) and the Syrian Interim Government (SIG), with reports of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) unilaterally disbanding several SIG-supported local councils across northwestern Syria. The SSG is led by a prime minister who is elected by a legislative body named the General Shura Council, which is headed by a president.
On 19 February 2018, heavy clashes erupted between the newly established Syrian Liberation Front, which consists of Ahrar al-Sham and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement, backed by the Suqour al-Sham Brigades, and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in the western Aleppo Governorate. The conflict soon spread to the Idlib Governorate and the SLF captured several towns from HTS. A ceasefire between the two groups was reached on 24 April 2018. Fighting again resumed on 1 January 2019, ending with a total HTS military victory on 9 January.
The Guardians of Religion Organization is an armed insurgent group affiliated with Al-Qaeda and fighting in the Syrian Civil War. The head of the group, Abu Humam al-Shami, was formerly a member of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham and previously the al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda's branch in Syria between 2013 and 2016. Abu Jilibib Tubasi and Abu Khadija al-Urduni, members of the Guardians of Religion's shura council, left Jabhat Fateh al-Sham in 2016 due to its reported disassociation from al-Qaeda. Tubasi, al-Shami, and Sami al-Oraydi were arrested by HTS in November 2017, in an attempt to stave off the formation of another al-Qaeda affiliated group in Syria. Also, in November 2017, Jaysh al-Badia and Jaysh al-Malahim were formed. The group also rejects infighting against other groups, but has had some tensions with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham on a few occasions, most recently from 17 June to 26 June 2020.
The National Front for Liberation is a Syrian rebel coalition that is part of the Syrian National Army (SNA) fighting in the Syrian Civil War. The group was formed by 11 rebel factions in northwestern Syria in May 2018, and was officially announced on 28 May 2018. The formation receives major support from Turkey. The group joined the SNA on 4 October 2019.
Jaysh al-Ahrar, is an armed Salafi jihadist 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 insurgent group affiliated with al-Qaeda and fighting in the Syrian Civil War. The group is made up of former Jund al-Aqsa members.
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.
The National Front for Liberation–Tahrir al-Sham conflict began on 1 January 2019 during clashes between Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), after HTS launched an attack against the group in Darat Izza, Taqad, and Khan al-Asal fronts in rebel-held western Aleppo. The conflict ended on 10 January 2019, after the National Front for Liberation agreed to withdraw, allowing HTS to take over almost all of the remaining opposition-held areas of the Idlib pocket.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from May to August 2019. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found at Casualties of the Syrian Civil War.
The 2019 northwestern Syria offensive, codenamed "Dawn of Idlib", was a military operation launched on 30 April 2019 by the Syrian Armed Forces and its allies against rebel groups in northwestern Syria during the Syrian civil war in a region known as "Greater Idlib", consisting of northwest Hama, southern Idlib and northeastern Latakia provinces. The government's main objectives were to open the M5 highway and to expel non-compliant militant groups, particularly the internationally proscribed al-Qaeda-linked group known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), from the 15–20 km demilitarized zone demarcated by Turkey and the Russian Federation at Sochi in 2018. The offensive was seen by both parties as crucial to the outcome of the war.
The Ebaa News Agency is a media outlet linked to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and reports on events surrounding the group, and the civil administration linked to the group, the Syrian Salvation Government.
The Insurgency in Idlib is an ongoing insurgency in rebel-held areas in the Idlib Governorate between multiple factions ranging from supporters of the Syrian government to Syrian opposition elements to supporters and members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The insurgency has been marked by assassinations and bombings, as well as armed confrontations with small arms and raids.
The Idlib Governorate clashes 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.
The Tahrir al-Sham–Junud al-Sham conflict was a series of violent clashes between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and several rival jihadist factions operating in the Idlib and Latakia governorates. The clashes began on 25 October 2021 after HTS demanded that the jihadist leader Muslim al-Shishani should stand trial after they accused him and his group of sheltering members of the Islamic State.