“Tobacco”…between prohibition by Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham under the cover of religion, and smuggling and dealing in it through front business used for the favor of “Emirs and commanders” in Tahrir Al-Sham
Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham treats the phenomenon of smoking cigarettes as being a “vice” that must be plucked out of the “Islamic community”, so it (Tahrir Al-Sham) prevents the spreading of tobacco through precision inspection at its checkpoints spread throughout the province of Idlib, as well as raids on storehouses and shops, in order to prevent the spreading of this vice as the Sharia men of Tahrir Al-Sham claim, in addition to the repeated confiscations by Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham of many cargoes that value thousands of US dollars, at the time when its members are watched smoking secretly and publicly in many occasions, also there are mercantile stores in Sarmada full of such stuff, but neither Tahrir Al-Sham nor any other factions get closer to them, on the contrary, dealers close to Tahrir Al-Sham pass their stuff via the checkpoints with the help of Emirs in Tahrir Al-Sham without being inspected, and sources confirmed to the SOHR that “Emirs and commanders” in Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham are the ones who man these large shops with participation of front business that works for their favor, and Tahrir Al-Sham is considered the party that dominates all the crossings between the regime’s controlled areas and the controlled areas of the pro-Turkey factions, via which boxes loaded with cigarette packs are brought, and Tahrir Al-Sham and the Salvation Government bear responsibility for what happens in the area under their control as they defraud the citizens under the cloak of “applying the Islamic religion” from their point of view as being a front and a new source of income that brings much money for them, exploiting their domination over the main and subsidiary crossings with other areas that are beyond their control.