Al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has executed Idlib native Mudar al-Ali, an alleged commander of ISIS-lined Liwa al-Aqsa.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) reported on June 20 that al-Ali was executed on April 15. HTS security forces arrested the young man from his house in the town of Maarzita in southern Idlib on November 19, 2019. His family was informed of the execution and asked to receive his body on June 19.
مضر العلي، طالب جامعي، اعتقلته هيئة تحرير الشام في عام 2019. في 18 حزيران 2020، تلقَّت عائلته معلومات تُفيد أن هيئة تحرير الشام نفّذت حكم الإعدام عليه داخل أحد مراكز احتجازها. تُشير الشبكة السورية أن عملية القتل تمت وفقاً لمعتقدات الهيئة المتطرفة.#سورياhttps://t.co/MlOSQ4nOoY pic.twitter.com/BbSX3ZtIx4
— الشبكة السورية (@SN4HR) June 20, 2020
Opposition sources claimed that al-Ali was a minor commander in Liwa al-Aqsa, formally known as Jund al- Aqsa. The ISIS-linked group was dissolved in 2017.
According to the sources, the young man continued to work for the group in secret as a security officer in Aleppo after 2017. Prior to his arrest, al-Ali was allegedly one of few people in Idlib, who pledged their allegiance to ISIS’ new leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi.
Al-Ali masked in a photo released by ISIS’ Amaq agency, according to opposition sources.
Despite the information revealed by opposition sources, the SNHR insisted in its report that al-Ali was just a college student.
In the last few years, HTS arrested or executed many radicals in Greater Idlib. The group appears to be intimidated by the growing influence of other terrorist factions in the region, including ISIS.
