Syrians take the streets to oppose HTS rule in Idlib

ByNews Desk- The Cradle 

The western-backed, Al-Qaeda-affiliated extremist group has been in control of northwest Syria since 2015

Opposition activists in Syria have issued calls on social media platforms to continue holding demonstrations against Abu Mohammad al-Julani, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and his supporters in Idlib and the countryside of Aleppo, Al-Mayadeen reported on 30 June.

Demonstrations and sit-ins against the HTS have been ongoing for days in response to repeated campaigns of arrests, harassment, and home raids in areas under HTS influence and control.

The members of HTS, formally known as the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, dispersed several demonstrations near the town of Al-Dana, in the northern Idlib governorate, where Julani’s gunmen dispersed a demonstration near one of the checkpoints with live fire.

Yesterday’s demonstration was in Sarmada in northern Idlib. Families from Hama governorate came to stage a sit-in at the town’s roundabout, demanding Julani release notables arrested without cause.

The demonstration was dispersed, activists were arrested, and the photography equipment they used to document their sit-in was destroyed. HTS also withdrew the press cards issued to participants by the Salvation Government, which rules Idlib on HTS’ behalf, to prevent their media activity.

According to Al-Mayadeen, activists called for intensifying demonstrations against HTS, which has enjoyed western and Turkish support.

Sources speaking to Al-Mayadeen also reported the Turkish authorities began more than a week ago to interrogate owners of exchange companies owned by Syrians in several Turkish cities about the assets owned by HTS’s Julani within those companies.

Earlier this year, Arabic media reports revealed that the US and Qatar supported a plan to “legitimize” Julani and allow HTS to consolidate full economic control over the Syria’s north.

HTS conquered Idlib governorate in 2015 at the head of a US, Turkish, Saudi, and Qatar-supported coalition in 2015. Foreign support for extremist armed groups began in 2011 as part of the US-led covert war to topple the Syrian government.

Media activists in HTS-controlled areas first became active at the start of the war, enjoying funding from NGOs linked with the US and EU governments to form what was known as Local Coordination Committees (LCC).

Activists from LCC groups, who used Facebook and YouTube to organize anti-government protests and spread allegations of government crimes, consisted of a mix of Muslim Brotherhood members and secular democracy activists.

Many of the Muslim Brotherhood LCC members went on to work for extremist armed groups, including ISIS, the Nusra Front, Ahrar al-Sham, and the Free Army.