Jihadists in Syria’s Idlib Form New ‘Operations Room’ – By Sirwan Kajjo (VOA News) / June 15 2020
WASHINGTON – Several al-Qaida-aligned militant groups in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib have announced the formation of a joint military operations room aimed at coordinating efforts to fight Syrian government troops and its allied forces.
The new operations center, dubbed as “Be Steadfast”, consists of five jihadist groups that operate in parts of the restive Idlib province, according to a statement published Friday on jihadist blogs and local media outlets.
“In order to repel the attacks of the aggressors and to break the conspiracies of the occupiers, the following factions mentioned announce the formation of the ‘Be Steadfast Operations Room’,” the statement said.
These factions include Hurras al-Din, Jamaat Ansar al-Islam and Jabhat Ansar al-Din, all of which are affiliated with the al-Qaida terror group. The other two groups, al-Jihad Coordination and the al-Muqatileen al-Ansar Brigade, are recent splinters from the powerful Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which was al-Qaida’s Syria branch until 2016 when it formally severed ties with the global jihadist group.
That decision by the HTS, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, triggered many members to break away from it and form jihadist groups loyal to al-Qaida.
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