Jun 27, 2016

ALEPPO, Syria — Areas under the control of armed opposition factions in northern Syria have devolved into a state of lawlessness leading to militant cells — perhaps affiliated with the regime or the Islamic State (IS) — attempting to assassinate prominent military and media personalities in an unprecedented manner. In June, a number of assassination attempts targeted military leaders from various armed factions operating in the northern Syrian cities of Aleppo and Idlib; there also were attempts to assassinate independent journalists in Aleppo with explosive devices or guns.

Between June 15 and June 22, numerous assassination attempts perpetrated by unknown persons took place against military leaders and press figures. On June 15, an explosive device targeted and killed Abu Ali Muhajireen, a Jabhat al-Nusra commander in the city of Idlib. In addition, unknown assailants shot at — but failed to kill — the commander of the Handarat military command in Aleppo’s northern countryside, Mayof Almayof, upon his return to the city of Aleppo at dawn June 15.

In this context, Almayof, known as Abu Bahr, the military leader of one of the largest factions in Aleppo and its countryside, the Nureddin Zengi Brigade, told Al-Monitor, “My vehicle broke down as I returned from the al-Rabat area inside the Handarat camp at Aleppo’s northern gate, accompanied by a leader of the Nureddin Zengi Brigade, so we stopped for repairs. A few minutes later a motorcycle approached with two masked men who opened fire on us. We tried to take cover behind the vehicle and returned fire, leading to the assailants taking flight. We were not hurt, but were unable to identify the perpetrators because of the darkness and the fact that they wore masks.”

He said, “No one — except the regime and IS — has any interest in assassinating military leaders. The regime failed to advance along Aleppo’s front lines, and specifically in the Handarat camp and al-Malah region. As a result, it is trying through sleeper cells located in the liberated areas to target field commanders and destabilize those areas by taking advantage of the armed factions’ preoccupation with military operations taking place in Aleppo and its countryside — where key battles are raging against the regime, IS and the Syrian Democratic Forces [SDF]. Consequently all our forces are fighting on the fronts, leading to a weakened security situation in the liberated areas, exacerbated by a lack of adequate security coordination among the armed factions.”

Abu Bahr added, “These factors lately has led to the rise of regime and IS sleeper cells bent on executing their plans. We — as militant factions — started implementing urgent and swift measures to address the lack of security spreading throughout the liberated areas of northern Syria. These measures include checkpoints at the entrances of the city and sensitive areas, and increased security coordination between military factions operating in Aleppo and Idlib.”