10-09-2017 (Photo: Salamiyah (Arabic: سلمية‎‎ Salamīya) is a city and district in western Syria, in the Hama Governorate. It is located 33 kilometres (21 miles) southeast of Hama, 45 kilometres (28 miles) northeast of Homs. The city is nicknamed the "mother of Cairo" because it was the birthplace of the second Fatimid Caliph Muhammad al-Qaim Bi-Amrillah, whose dynasty would eventually establish the city of Cairo, and the early headquarters of his father Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah who founded the Fatimid Caliphate. The city is an important center of the Shi'ite Nizari Ismaili and Taiyabi Ismaili Muslim sects and also the birthplace of poet Muhammad al-Maghut. The population of the city is 66,724 (2004 census).[1] In the recent years, with the development of frontlines in Syrian Civil War, the city has grown in its strategic importance. With the Al-Rastan becoming a pocket out of the control of the government along the Homs-Hama Motorway, and the developments in Idlib governorate resulting in the government also losing control of large segments of the main Hama-Aleppo Highway, Homs-Salamiyah, Hama-Salamiyah, and Salamiyah-Ithriya-Aleppo roads become major lines connecting these major government-held areas. This importance has been why the town is site for occasional ISIS or Rebel mortar attacks.) http://JohnBatchelorShow.com/contact http://JohnBatchelorShow.com/schedules Twitter: @BatchelorShow

ISIS bites back on Al Qaeda's HTS in Syria. @ThomasJoscelyn @BillRoggio

Sometime during the last day, Baghdadi’s loyalists turned their guns and armored vehicles on HTS in Hama province.

HTS quickly released a statement denouncing the assault and accusing the Assad regime of allowing the Islamic State’s jihadists to pass through its territory into HTS-controlled Hama. This is a common argument employed by various actors on the ground in Syria, where enemies and rivals frequently accuse each other of being in cahoots with Assad’s forces. The reality is that both the so-called caliphate and HTS frequently clash with the Syrian government and its sponsor. The battlefield is messy and chaotic, with all sides regularly making tactical adjustments and compromises.

Since the rise of the Islamic State in 2013 and 2014, Baghdadi’s subordinates have frequently clashed with their jihadist rivals. The infighting began when Al Nusrah Front and its emir, Abu Muhammad al Julani, refused to obey Baghdadi’s orders in Syria. The infighting that followed led to numerous deaths on both sides. The Islamic State has continued to clash with Julani’s men, even after his organization changed its name twice in less than a year. Al Nusrah formed the backbone of HTS in January, but has suffered from a variety of problems since then. The so-called caliphate, which has lost most of the territory once under its control, has repeatedly attempted to seize ground from HTS in Damascus and elsewhere.

Earlier this year, HTS claimed to have uncovered a number of Islamic State cells operating throughout Idlib province, the organization’s stronghold.

The Islamic State’s most recent assault on HTS came just days after HTS launched its own offensive on Assad’s men in Hama. HTS targeted the village of Abu Dali, which sits at a crossroads between the provinces of Idlib and Hama. Via its Ebaa News Agency, HTS has advertised its gains in and around Abu Dali. The photos show captured vehicles, including a tank, and other arms, as well as the corpses of pro-Assad fighters scattered on the ground.

https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2017/10/islamic-state-attacks-rival-jihadists-in-hama-province.php