HTS security forces vehicle after the IED attack
On May 13, a fighter of Jaysh al-Nassir was killed and another one was injured when an IED hit their vehicle around the town of Maarrat Misrin in the northeastern Idlib countryside, according to Syrian opposition sources.
The Syrian pro-opposition news outlet Enab Baladi reported that a second IED had hit a vehicle of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sahm (HTS) security forces near the town of Ariha in northwestern Idlib. Several HTS security forces members were injured in the attack, according to Enab Baladi.
These two attacks came only one day after a VBIED had exploded near a prison of HTS in the city of Idlib killing 10 militants and civilians and injuring 26 others. According to local observers, this attack marked the beginning of a new assassination wave in Idlib governorate.
Idlib witnessed a similar wave in the period between April 26 and 30, in which more than 20 militants and civilians were killed, most of them were commanders and supporters of HTS.
On May 10, Hussain al-Shami, a security commander of HTS, claimed that his group had captured three intelligence cells of the Syrian Military Intelligence and the Russian intelligence, which were behind several assassinations in Idlib governorate. However, al-Shami didn’t present any evidence to back his claims.
With HTS and its allies unable to put an end to these attacks, local observers believe that the security situation in Idlib governorate is heading to a new crisis.
