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Al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is expanding its influence in the Turkish-occupied northern Syrian area of Afrin, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) warned in a statement released on September 17.
HTS is the de-facto ruler of the northwestern region of Greater Idlib which shares a 25 kilometers-long unofficial border line with Afrin.
Farhad Shami, head of the SDF Media Center, revealed in the group’s statement that commanders of HTS had visited the Yazidi town of Bosoufane as well as the districts of Jandaris and Sheikh Hadid in Afrin and met with the leaders of Turkish-backed groups ruling the area.
Furthermore, HTS terrorists established posts in Bosoufane and a number of others areas in southern and western Afrin. The terrorists use forged documents provided by the Turkish-backed al-Shmaiya Front to move in the area.
The terrorist group is also about to reach a deal with the Suleyman Shah Brigade, one of the largest Turkish-backed in northern Syria. The deal will allow the group expand its influence like never before in Jandaris and Sheikh Hadid.
“The deployment of militants from the terrorist-designated HTS in Afrin along with international reports confirming the involvement of other groups linked to Turkey [Ahrar al-Sharqiyah] in recruiting ISIS mercenaries, who fled from the battles in northern and eastern Syria, are all serious indications of how the occupied areas, especially Afrin, are being turned into a safe haven for extremist organizations and a starting point for plotting and carrying out terrorist acts on the Syrian and international arena,” Shami said in the statement.
HTS is clearly taking advantage of Turkish occupation to spread its influence over northwestern and northern Syria. Ankara is doing nothing whatsoever to stop the terrorist group.
Western efforts to whitewash HTS and its terrorist leader, Abu Mohamad al-Julani, ramped up this year. The group is being promoted as a reformed, acceptable version of al-Qaeda. Damascus and its allies are the last side standing against the terrorist group.
Does the author believe Russia has a shortage of KAB-500/1500 bombs?
More cannon fodder, more experimental weapon designs from multiple nations supporting Syria.
Are the turks ignorant enough to believe Russia will simply pack up one day and leave? As Bashar al-Assad said, every last inch of Syrian territory will be freed from foreign backed scum.
The funny thing is that the Syrian opposition thinks that Assad is foreign backed.
The funny thing is, across Idlib many of the Syrian based militants are in fact quite literally foreign mercenaries and Islamist’s – Moroccan, Tunisian, Turkish, Chechen, Uighur, Libyan, Saudi etc. They have of course long been monthly wage-paid by Gulf and NATO states to fight against Syria. Now, the SAA most certainly has Russian support, as they have for decades as former Soviet client state, but here is the key thing – the Syrian army is actually made up of real Syrian nationals. Are you able to grasp the fundamental difference here?
I know but let me remind you that UAE supports Assad now.
america, britain and their paid off proxies trying to spread “democracy” around the world? What a sick joke.
“Privatization is a neoliberal and imperialist plan. Health can’t be privatized because it is a fundamental human right, nor can education, water, electricity and other public services. They can’t be surrendered to private capital that denies the people from their rights.”
Hugo Chavez
rome is unhappy. There centuries of plunder and disgusting exploitation of the human race is unraveling at an accelerated pace. This is what motivates them towards global war. They cannot retain their influence or project their concept of power anymore uncontested.
Chavez was right,but its already happened in my Country and anyone who speaks against it is branded a mad Marxist by the rabid right,including the media
So why are those Kurdish Quislings helping the Americans instead of the Syrian army?
Because they dont consider themselves Syrian and never did. Syria was stupid to let them in in the first place.
But they are Syrian.
The SDF always fails to understand the motives of its American patrons. The US is fine with Turkey fighting the SDF/YPG as long as it happens INSIDE of northern Syria. This maintains the momentum of war and chaos within Syria, delaying any full reunification and economic recovery efforts of Syrian state.