Eurasia Press & News
Fighters from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, which has military influence in Idlib, carried out an “immersion” operation on the evening of Sunday, February 26, targeting a Syrian regime forces position in the countryside of Latakia.
Fighters of the “Red Bands” brigades, affiliated with “Tahrir al-Sham,” targeted a gathering of regime forces in the village of Al-Rabiah in the northern countryside of Latakia, through an “immersion behind the lines” operation.
The operation resulted in the killing of ten members of the regime forces and the destruction of three 152-caliber cannons and ammunition “nests,” according to what was published by the “Amjad” Foundation, affiliated with the “HTS.”
The operation did not result in any deaths or injuries among the ranks of the “Red Bands,” while the regime’s official media did not announce any deaths or injuries among its forces.
The regime rarely announces this, while news accounts loyal to it publish information about deaths, in addition to obituary publications for members of its forces in the area of clashes or targeting.
Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham previously announced the killing of three of its members in an “immersion” operation behind the contact lines in the town of Basartun in the western countryside of Aleppo, on January 10, and on February 4 as well.
This is the first operation following the earthquake that struck southern Turkey and four Syrian governorates on February 6.
17 “Inghamisiyah” in northern Syria
The “immersion” operations carried out by “Tahrir al-Sham” or other factions affiliated with it in the “Fatah al-Mubin” operations room, which manages military operations in Idlib Governorate and part of the western countryside of Aleppo, the Latakia countryside, and the Al-Ghab Plain northwest of Hama, were active.
With the “Red Bands” operation, the number of operations carried out by “Tahrir al-Sham” during the past five months reached 15 operations in various areas behind the lines of contact adjacent to the areas under its control, the most recent of which took place on February 4 of this year.
Fighters from the “Ansar al-Tawhid” group operating in northern Syria carried out an attack on advanced points of the regime forces, on the axis of the village of Maarat Mukhas in the southern countryside of Idlib, and the targeting resulted in dozens of deaths and injuries, on January 18 of last year.
On the 24th of the same month, the “Ahrar al-Sham Movement” carried out an “immersion” operation against regime forces’ positions in the Jabal al-Akrad axis in the Latakia countryside.
“Tahrir al-Sham” previously carried out “industrial” operations at an unstable pace, but it has been active in implementing them recently despite the cessation of fighting since March 5, 2020 with the “Moscow” agreement, or “ceasefire” agreement, signed between Russia and Turkey.
Project and messages
On January 2, in statements he made during his meeting with the notables of the displaced in the city of Idlib, the leader of Tahrir al-Sham, Abu Muhammad al-Julani, spoke about the “immersion” operations, and about the “Tahrir al-Sham’s” efforts to unify the forces inside the country for years, But “it is still difficult.”
Al-Julani pointed out that internal construction is what gives “prestige” abroad, considering that “the revolutionary project in Idlib is an exceptional event,” possessing unified military and popular power, and an event that “does not happen again every 50 or 100 years.”
Analysts and researchers in the religious movements told Enab Baladi that the activity of these operations carries multi-dimensional messages to the inside, represented by winning the “popular incubator of the revolution,” and to the West and Turkey, and that they want to confirm that they have a high combat readiness that can be relied upon to confront any agreements that may lead to a “settlement.” “With the system.
Tahrir al-Sham also wants to say that it is ready to open fronts with the regime if the settlements made are not suitable for it, and that its main enemy is still the regime, and that it is not just a “radical terrorist organization” that wants to destroy the (moderate) “Free Army.”
While others considered that the recent escalation in Idlib, and the launching of attacks against the regime, is a hint by “Tahrir al-Sham” not to commit itself to any outcomes related to paths and agreements between regional countries around the region, as long as it is not a party to it and is not aware of the course of the rapprochement between Turkey and the Syrian regime.
