“Jaysh Abu Bakr al-Seddiq” of Ahrar al-Sham carries out the first attack in the demilitarized zone in east Idlib sector since Putin – Erdogan agreement
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored violent clashes within the demilitarized zone at dawn of today, Thursday, the 1st of November 2018, and in the details monitored by the Syrian Observatory: a group of “Jaysh Abu Bakr al-Siddiq” of Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham attacked at dawn of today positions of the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them in Wadi al-Mazroui area in the abandoned battalion area in the eastern countryside of Idlib, which is within the demilitarized zone stretches from the northeastern mountains of Latakia, pass through Hama and Idlib, until the northwestern suburbs of Aleppo city, where violent clashes took place between both parties before the attacking group withdraws to its positions and points, and the clashes caused confirmed casualties in the ranks of both parties, where a fighter of Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham was confirmed killed in addition to the death and injury of the members of the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them, while these clashes are considered the first of its kind in Idlib province within the demilitarized zone, which was agreed upon after the meeting that took place between the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Russian President Vladimir Putin on the 17th of September 2018.
The Syrian Observatory published on the 30th of September 2018 that Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham –which is one of the largest factions in the north of Syria– formed 3 armies: “Jaysh Abu Bakr as-Siddiq” which has been formed through integrating 3 armies which are the factions of “Jaysh Idlib, Al-Badia and Hama”, and the factions of “Jaysh Aleppo and the Eastern Ghouta” has been integrated under the name “Jaysh Umar Ibn Al-Khattab”, while the 3rd army included “Jaysh Al-Sham, Al-Hudud and Al-Sahi” and called “Jaysh Uthman ibn Affan”, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights learned that this process of integration came as a part of arranging the ranks of Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham as a result of the plenty of names, brigades and battalions operating within the Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham especially after a large numbers of members and commanders of Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham came during the displacement processes witnessed in the Eastern Ghouta, Rif Dimashq, Daraa province, and the northern countryside of Homs, while this process of arranging the ranks, comes before the announcement of Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham about its formal attitude to the Russian – Turkish agreement about the buffer zone that was planned to be extended from Lattakia countryside to the south-western countryside of Aleppo passing through Hama and Idlib.