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On September 6, unidentified gunmen attacked a checkpoint of al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham in the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib.
The attack, which took place in the early morning hours, targeted a checkpoint near the town of Kafar Takharim in the northern Idlib countryside. The gunmen targeted the checkpoint with light machine guns before running away.
“There is no information about any human losses [in the attack],” the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a report.
After the attack, HTS’ security forces arrested five militants of a small local armed faction called the Hananu Brigade. The terrorist group suspected that the fighters were behind the attack, but this turned out to be untrue. The militants were released within a few hours.
Last month, foreign jihadists in Syria’s Greater Idlib threatened HTS in an official statement. The jihadists accused the group’s leader, Abu Mohamad al-Julani, of “betraying” and “selling” them, citing the recent arrest of a number of foreign commanders and journalists.
HTS made a many enemies while working to tighten its grip over Greater Idlib. More attacks will likely target the terrorist group and its militants in the upcoming months.
