Jihadists Open Fire on Protesters in Syria's Idlib

W460

Jihadists from a coalition led by al-Qaida's former Syria affiliate fired on protesters in northwestern Idlib province on Thursday, a day after killing a demonstrator in the area, a monitor said.

The incident comes as the jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) alliance fights pitched battles across opposition-held Idlib province with the Ahrar al-Sham rebel faction.

The clashes have killed more than 40 people since they erupted this week, including 27 of the combatants and 11 civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor.

Another four of those killed have yet to be identified as fighters or civilians.

Among the casualties was media activist Musaab al-Ezzo, killed in the town of Saraqeb on Wednesday when HTS fighters opened fire on a demonstration against their presence.

The monitor said fresh demonstrations were staged in the town despite Ezzo's death, with the jihadists again opening fire, causing an unspecified number of injuries.

The monitor's head Rami Abdel Rahman said demonstrators shouted slogans including "Saraqeb is free, free, Jolani out," a reference to Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, head of the leading component of HTS, the Fateh al-Sham Front.

Fateh al-Sham was previously known as al-Nusra Front, but changed its name after announcing it was shedding its status as al-Qaida's Syrian affiliate.

Fateh al-Sham and Ahrar al-Sham were once close allies, forming the backbone of the Army of Conquest alliance that seized most of Idlib province from government control in 2015.

But tensions have been rising between the two groups, and the Observatory described the latest clashes as the most widespread and serious violence between the factions so far.

An AFP correspondent in the province said both sides had set up multiple checkpoints inside and around provincial capital Idlib city.

He said the city streets were deserted, with residents staying indoors for fear of clashes.

In Saraqeb on Wednesday night, mourners out to bury Ezzo were almost the only civilians seen on the town's streets, he added.

The latest conflict arises partly out of a dispute over Ahrar al-Sham's desire to fly the flag of the Syrian uprising in Idlib city, the Observatory and AFP's correspondent said.

Idlib city was only the second provincial capital to fall from government control, and the province is one of the last remaining strongholds of the rebels.

More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011.

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