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On December 17, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrain branch of al-Qaeda) began tis final preparations for an expected withdrawal from the Eastern Ghouta region to the governotare of Idlib, according to Syrian oppositions sources. The HTS withdrawal is part of a secret deal reached by the Damascus government, Russia, Jaysh al-Islam, the Ahrar al-Sham Movement and Faylaq al-Rahman.
The opposition sources reported that several buses arrived the al-Wafddien camp east of Damascus to transport HTS fighters to Idlib governorate. Moreover, HTS began registering the names of its fighters that will withdraw to Idlib, according to the sources.
From its side, Abu Mohammad al-Shami a commander of HTS denied that HTS will withdraw from Eastern Ghouta, according to the Syrian pro-opposition news outlet Enab Baladi. Al-Shami even claimed in a voice-message obtained by Enab Baladi that HTS is preparing for a military operation to break the SAA siege on the region.
However, many Syrian oppositions activists said that the al-Shami statement was nothing more than a propaganda stunt. Such moves have been used many times by HTS to justify its defeats.
Experts believe that expelling HTS from Eastern Ghouta will stabilize the situation in it and to secure the de-escalation agreement there. However, with HTS refusing to recognize the deal publicly, there is a good chance that it will fail.
Fail? It is either run and die another day, or die, where they stand. So recognizing defeat and run or not, I don’t think, it make any difference on the final outcome.
al Shami claims an HTS offensive will break the siege! I thought Salafists had no sense of humor! :D
Unwelcomed/Interlopers/ Illegal immigrants/ gatecrashers; DIE RATS DIE Syrians rejected Wahabhist ;DIE RATS DIE. Music to my ears.long time ago.
“The HTS withdrawal is part of a secret deal reached by the Damascus government, Russia, Jaysh al-Islam, the Ahrar al-Sham Movement and Faylaq al-Rahman.”
Why is this happening is beyond belief. Russia is pressuring Damascus to conduct these idiotic agreements with terrorists, letting them withdraw to another location and continue fighting Syrian government somewhere else. At the same time Russia is accusing Americans of doing the same in Eastern part of Syria.
Except that the SAA and Russian tactics are to ‘divide and rule’ in order to separate those who wish to lay down their arms and end the madness.
Whereas the US tactic is now to incorporate the defeated ISIS, Al Nusra and similar Zionist controlled Wahabi gangs who have been and are being trained by the US military into a re-branded terror group to place on the Israeli borders.
At least saa already got bloody strugle against them, which already proven by video from both side, where sdf didnt show much of their fight against isis and every fight with them just like child play where they able to capture thousand km in two days, where saa got bloody for every km they captured
When they are all in the same nest together then bomb the shit out of them. Save the civilians everywhere else.
HTS will have to be all ‘bluff and bluster’ despite being force to leave Eastern Ghouta. Its the image of an ‘undefeated enemy’ they want to retain. Let them deny, let them bitch, as long as they leave that region.
No deal. Kill them where they stand. You’ll only have to kill them somewhere else. Do it now.
I wonder how those Al Qaida rats are keeping their morale up. Except for some minor gains made in Daraa they’ve pretty much been hammered and suffered defeat after defeat this last year. They lost a LOT of fighters and equipment during the last Aleppo and Hama offensives to the point that they can barely hold the frontline against 2nd and 3rd tier SAA troops in Southern Idlib. Not to mention ISIS grabbing territory from them. The only major victory they’ve managed to achieve is against fellow Jihadists.
Well done, Al Qaida! Excellent!