Oct 10, 2017

ALEPPO, Syria — The Free Syrian Army (FSA), backed by Turkish troops and Russian air support, has launched an attack on the jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in northwest Syria's Idlib province. The objective is to wrest control from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham of the large areas it now holds, to pave the way for declaring Idlib city a safe zone.

Meanwhile, heavy fighting was reported Oct. 9 between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the Islamic State (IS) in northern Hama province near the Idlib border. IS claims to have captured a dozen villages from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Both Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and IS repeatedly engage with Syrian regime troops as well.

Though the latest round of Syria peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, calls for a halt of hostilities between the Syrian armed opposition and regime forces, it allows the guarantor states — Russia, Turkey and Iran — to fight terrorist organizations such as IS and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged Oct. 7 that there will be no "terrorist corridor along the border with Syria.”

The United States and others consider the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham alliance a terrorist group, largely because its main faction, Jabhat al-Nusra, used to be the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda. In July 2016, Jabhat al-Nusra said it was ending its affiliation with al-Qaeda, changed its name and embraced the Syrian revolution. In January, it formed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham by merging with several other groups. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham considers itself an important component of the Syrian opposition, despite its rejection by more moderate groups.

“Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is a terrorist organization that used its weapons, deceit and deception to impose itself on the Syrian people," Mustafa Sejari told Al-Monitor. Sejari is head of the political bureau of al-Mu'tasim Brigade, which is part of the FSA moderate opposition alliance. The FSA had led Turkey's Operation Euphrates Shield, which wrapped up earlier this year.