An international approach to liquidate al-Qaeda in Syria temporarily excludes “Tahrir...

Damascus – In a statement Friday, the US Central Command announced the launch of an air strike targeting a group of senior al-Qaeda officials in Syria, Thursday, and this is the fourth attack targeting al-Qaeda leaders in recent weeks, although Thursday’s strike was the heaviest one given the death toll.

The American raids focused on leaders who had defected from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, most of them foreigners, which raises questions about the motives for excluding the organization, even though it is on the list of international terrorism, and is there a tendency to float it again, because of its pragmatism in recent years, one of its manifestations was the declaration of its organizational separation from Al Qaeda. After it was renamed.

On Friday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced that the toll of the recent US bombing had risen to 22 people: 5 civilians, and 17 jihadi leaders and elements who had defected from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and on accord with the “Guardians of Religion” organization regarding the rejection of Russian-Turkish agreements within what is known as “Putin – Erdogan region”.

Among the dead jihadists, 11 former leaders of Tahrir al-Sham, 5 of whom were of non-Syrian nationalities, and one of the dead was a leader in the Islamic State before he joined the organization at a later time.

The observatory pointed out that the death toll is expected to rise due to the wounded, some of them in serious cases, in addition to the presence of information on the dead of others. The Syrian Observatory, which is based in London and has a wide network of correspondents inside Syria, had previously reported that 15 people were killed and others were injured in the targeting of a drone, most likely for the “International Coalition”, for a dinner, in the village of Jakara in the countryside of Salqin, near The Syrian – Turkish borders.

And the United States had previously announced the killing of two leaders of Hurras al-Din last week, namely, Abuzar al-Masri, a member of the organization’s Shura Council, who had previously held the position of “public lawmaker”, and Abu Youssef al-Maghribi, who held the position of “general security” in the extremist organization, in a blow By a drone.

Observers believe that there is an international trend to liquidate the most radical elements in northern Syria, given the international threat they pose, provided that the less extremist and Syrian elements are absorbed, and this path appears to be shared by Russia.

Observers note that the recent operations focused mainly on organizing “Guardians of Religion” and some factions close to it, which reject the Russian-Turkish agreements in northwestern Syria.

On the other hand, some believe that international powers are trying to dismantle the jihadist organizations in Syria and are working according to a gradual approach to strike their presence, in order to avoid any field effects that are in the interest of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, in the foreseeable future.

Turkey and Russia concluded a ceasefire agreement between the Syrian forces and the Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham in Idlib, last February, and it is still holding today despite the violations.

The Guardians of Religion Organization had announced its strong opposition to the agreement, and other factions joined it, which created tension with the organization, which imposes its influence on about half of the area of ​​Idlib and its environs.

And “Guardians of Religion” is an organization founded in late February 2018 within the “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham,” but separated from it after it disengaged from al-Qaeda, which is affiliated with the faction.

Syria has been witnessing a war, since early 2011, when the Syrian regime began a crackdown against protests against its rule, which later turned into an armed conflict that interfered with the local, regional and international, and this conflict caused the killing of hundreds of thousands of people, as well as the displacement and asylum of more than 10 million people, according to United Nations estimates.

Idlib is located within the de-escalation zone that was formed according to an agreement between Turkey and Russia, within the framework of the Astana meetings related to the Syrian issue, and it is likely that the situation will remain as it is pending a comprehensive settlement of the conflict, with the priority being currently to strike the most dangerous jihadist leaders and elements.