Fractures within al-Qaeda may aid Assad
The Hindu
AP, BEIRUT,
The
terror group’s Syrian factions are engaged in a power struggle in Idlib
A recent wave of
detentions and a spate of violence within al-Qaeda have also raised fears of an
all-out war between insurgents in the heavily populated Province near Turkey as
Mr. Assad’s forces make their push.
Tensions inside Idlib
have been on the rise for months, reflecting a power struggle between hard-line
foreign fighters loyal to al-Qaeda’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, and its more
moderate Syrian members. The tensions worsened in late November after a wave of
detentions by an al-Qaeda-linked group against more extremist, mostly
non-Syrian members.
The detentions,
ordered by Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the leader of the al-Qaeda-linked Haya’at
Tahrir al Sham (HTS), were the clearest indication yet of the sharp divisions
within the international terror network. They also come as al-Golani appears to
be edging closer to Turkey.
Ahmad Hamade, a
Syrian Army colonel who defected early in the conflict, said that HTS is more tolerated
in northern Syria. In fact, many HTS fighters were members of the Free Syrian
Army, the mainstream rebels fighting to topple Mr. Assad, he said.
Asad Kanjo, an
opposition activist from Idlib who currently lives in Britain, said that the
divisions within al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria are the result of al-Golani trying
to market himself as a Syrian leader who has no links to the international
terror network.
“This is a purely
Turkish move. Turkey wants the Syrian branch (HTS) to cut all links with the international
organisation,” Mr. Kanjo said, paving the way for al-Golani to join the
political process.
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