DOZENS OF FOREIGN FIGHTERS KILLED IN EXPLOSION IN IDLIB CITY

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On January 7, a heavy VBIED exploded in al-Thalathin street in the western part of Idlib city. The Lebanese al-Mayadeen TV said that the VBIED targeted the headquarters of the al-Qaeda-affiliated Ajnad Caucasus group. 25 civilians and fighters of Ajnad Caucasus were killed and many others were injured in the VBIED attack, according to local sources.

Al-Mayadeen said that opposition activists accused Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham of carrying out the VBIED attack as a punishment against Ajnah Caucasus because they fled the battlefield in the southeastern Idlib countryside.

During the last few days, several prominent figures of the Syrian opposition and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) accused HTS of handing over its positions in southeastern Idlib to the Syrian Arab Army (SAA).

On the other side, pro-HTS activists accused FSA groups and even the locals of supporting the SAA, especially after the Syrian Arab Air Force Intelligence (SyAAFI) leaked photos from inside Sinjar town on January 6, before the SAA capture the town.

The SyAAFI went on and leaked a video showing its agents inside the strategic Abu Duhur town, 15km north from the SAA positions in Sinjar town.

The new leak led to another wave of criticism against HTS, with some oppositions activists even claiming that HTS is planning to hand over all southwestern Aleppo and southeastern Idlib to the SAA.

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