Hayat Tahrir al-Sham intensifies campaign against al-Qaeda affiliate in Idlib
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham presses on with its campaign to weaken Hurras al-Din.
ALEPPO, Syria — Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which controls Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, this month launched a campaign of wide-scale arrests against prominent leaders and members of Hurras al-Din (Guardians of Religion Organization), which is affiliated with al-Qaeda.
It appears that the arrests against the jihadi organization are a continuation of the security campaign Hayat Tahrir al-Sham launched a while ago to weaken Hurras al-Din and perhaps even eliminate it.
On Feb. 20, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham arrested Abu Abdullah al-Souri, Hurras al-Din's leader in Aleppo, at his residence in Salqin in the Idlib countryside. He is the son of a former prominent leader in Jabhat al-Nusra, Radwan Namouss. Namouss, also known as Abu Firas al-Souri, was killed in an airstrike in 2016 in the Idlib countryside.
On Feb. 15 in Maarrat Misrin in north Idlib, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham arrested Abu Hreira al-Masri. He is the son of former Hurras al-Din Sharia official Abu Dharr al-Masri, who was killed in an airstrike in west Idlib on Oct. 15, 2020.
