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Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and Free Syrian Army (FSA) groups prevented al-Qaeda-affiliated Horas al-Din from attacking a position of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in the northern Lattakia countryside, a source familiar with the situation told the Syrian news outlet Enab Baladi on October 4.
According to the source, HTS and the FSA took this step in order prevent a military response from the SAA and its allies and possibly to protect the Russian-Turkish deconfliction agreement on the governorate of Idlib.
A radical figure named “Abu Rayan al-Ma’sadah,” who is close to Horas al-Din, confirmed that the al-Qaeda affiliated group was prevented from launching an attack and said the incident proves that HTS is a “guardian” of the deconfliction agreement.
“They [came] under the slogans of no for Sochi [agreement] and preventing a Turkish intervention, then they became the guardians of Sochi and Turkish observation posts,” al-Ma’sadah said criticizing HTS’ leadership.
Horas al-Din rejected the Russian-Turkish agreement and called it a “major conspiracy” in an official statement, which was released on September 22. However, HTS is yet to announce its stand on the agreement due to the internal disagreements.
