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Dozens of militants have been reportedly killed as a result of the ongoing clashes between al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and Jund Allah in the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib.
Jund Allah is a Jihadi group made up mostly of Azerbaijanis. The group is led by Abu Fatima al-Turki who is infamous for his extremely radical views.
On October 25, HTS launched a military campaign against Jund Allah, whose militants are based in western Idlib and northern Lattakia. Sources affiliated with HTS claimed that Jund Allah is sheltering wanted Jihadists from al-Qaeda-affiliated Horas al-Din and ISIS.
According to a report released by the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on October 27, the clashes have so far claimed the lives of 26 militants of Jund Allah and eight others from HTS side. The clashes are now focused in the al-Turkmen mountain in northern Lattakia.
“HTS managed to capture at least 12 jihadists, while the jihadists managed to capture more than 20 members of HTS,” the monitoring group’s report reads.
Jund Allah clashed with both HTS, known before as the al-Nusra Front, and ISIS in the past due to the extremely radical views of its leader Abu Fatima al-Turki.
Initially, infamous terrorist leader Muslim Abu Walid al-Shishani and his group Jund al-Sham sided with Jund Allah. However, he later reached a ceasefire agreement with HTS and left northern Lattakia along with his militants.
Despite the ceasefire, HTS continues to pressure al-Shishani. The Chechen leader brother, Abu Musa al-Shishani, was arrested by HTS while attempting to flee Idlib to Turkey on October 26. This may lead to a new confrontation between HTS and Jund al-Sham.
أبو موسى الشيشاني شقيق مسلم الشيشاني أسيراً لدى الهيئة
الجولاني يريد أن يحصل على علامة امتياز في اختبار سوتشي pic.twitter.com/rQIdyOlku3
— لله نمضي (@LL_Allah_almser) October 27, 2021
HTS has been working to tighten its grip over Greater Idlib by neutralizing its competitors for more than three years now. The terrorist group will likely win the battle with Jund Allah. This will not, however, be the last internal campaign of the group.
