Syria Support Movement solidarity with the Syrian people
from The Cradle, October 15, 2022
Clashes resumed in northeast Syria on 15 October between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and Turkish-backed factions of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Syrian National Army (SNA), after a preliminary ceasefire agreement had been reached the day before.
Fighting was reignited in the Aleppo countryside before spreading into the northern outskirts of Afrin, where the Kertuk refugee camp was reportedly subjected to fires as a result. Tensions began to rise last week after the assassination of an activist critical of the Turkish occupation in Syria.
The failed truce agreement’s terms included the exchange of prisoners from both sides, as well as the return of fighters belonging to the SNA and FSA taken from their headquarters in Afrin, which was captured by HTS during the clashes for the first time.
HTS also demanded to assume full economic and security control over the city of Afrin, with all other factions “remaining on the front lines,” exclusive sources told Syrian media.
Afrin is strategically important to HTS, due to the city’s border crossing with Turkey.
Following the resumption of clashes, the Third Corps faction of the SNA deleted all texts of the ceasefire agreement from their social media pages.
According to reports, at least two dozen have been killed due to the fighting, with several injured.
Although the ceasefire failed, Kurdish media later reported, citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), that HTS withdrew a portion of its forces from Afrin to Idlib, as part of an agreement with the Third Corps faction.
In accordance with an agreement between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Third Corps, the HTS has withdrawn a part of its military forces from Afrin to Idlib: SOHR.
📹 Video submitted to Kurdistan 24 pic.twitter.com/K5W3DJum0O
— Kurdistan 24 English (@K24English) October 15, 2022
Over the years, infighting between various militant groups inside the Turkish-occupied territory of Syria has become the norm.
Particularly, clashes between HTS and the FSA factions have been common, even before the group severed its ties with al-Qaeda and relinquished the title of Jabhat al-Nusra in 2017.
In 2018, HTS was accused of assassinating Raed al-Fares, a pro-opposition activist from Idlib, despite never claiming responsibility for the killing.
These recent clashes symbolize a longstanding dissatisfaction among the FSA factions, who were once militarily aligned with Jabhat al-Nusra, and who now continue to have turbulent relations with HTS.
Figures suggest that the casualties due to inter-rebel conflicts in Syria’s occupied regions are estimated to be anywhere between 5,641 to 6,991 people.
