Security forces from Syria’s interim government said they began cracking down on loyalists to the former regime in the country’s northwestern Idlib governorate.
The campaign to arrest fugitives and remnants of the Assad regime has focused on the town of Khan Sheikhoun, southern Idlib province – the site of the infamous 2017 chemical attack.
A number of individuals who refused to hand over their weapons to the state were arrested, security forces said.
The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group which ousted former President Bashar al-Assad in a lighting December offensive had pulled out of Khan Sheikhoun in August 2019 following a regime offensive but maintained control of much of Idlib province.
The now-disbanded group was headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa, who currently leads Syria as interim president.
In the eastern Homs countryside, security forces seized weapons and ammunition hidden inside a well in the town of Al-Madaba’, which were intended to be transported to another location “to carry out criminal operations by cells loyal to the former regime”.
On Sunday, one member of the security forces was killed during a raid on an arms depot in a village east of Aleppo, in northern Syria, after clashes erupted with gunmen.
Since ousting the former regime, Al-Sharaa has called on militant groups to hand over their weapons and merge with the state, but the war-ravaged country remains deeply divided, with recent sectarian violence in the coastal region raising fears among minority groups.
The conflict began in 2011 soon after Assad’s forces brutally cracked down on democracy protests, sparking an armed uprising.
Lebanon-Syria border issues
Lebanese Defence Minister Michel Menassa is expected to visit Damascus on Wednesday to discuss bolstering border security following deadly clashes earlier this month.
Menassa will head a delegation including General Security chief Maj. Gen. Hassan Choucair and director of military intelligence Brig. Gen. Tony Qahwaji, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency.
They will meet with Syrian Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra and intelligence director Maj. Gen. Anas Khattab “to discuss enhancing security cooperation”.
Cross-border clashes erupted in mid-March between Syrian security forces and Lebanese clans, amid conflicting reports about the reasons behind the unrest.
While Syria accused the Shia militant Hezbollah group of killing three security members, Lebanese clans from the northeastern Hermel district said the individuals were targeted after crossing into Lebanese territory.
Hezbollah denied any involvement. The group, battered by the war with Israel last year, fought alongside Assad’s forces in the Syrian war.
Menassa and Abu Qasra agreed to a ceasefire after days of clashes which left over a dozen people killed, and the Lebanese army has since increased its presence along the porous border, closing illegal border crossings long used by smugglers and arms traffickers.
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The 394 km Lebanon-Syria border remains largely uncontrolled and not fully demarcated, resulting in rampant arms, drugs and human trafficking.
The UK has helped Lebanon by funding watchtowers along the border, allowing the army to clamp down on smuggling, but the issue of delineating the border remains a top priority for Beirut.
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun met with Al-Sharaa on the sidelines of a Cairo summit last month, and the two countries are looking to better their relations long strained by the Assad regime.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam recently told Al-Hadath TV that Lebanon will correct the “unequal relations with Syria” after the fall of the Assad regime, in an apparent reference to bilateral deals previously signed between the countries which had favoured the Assad regime’s interests.
The Lebanese and Syrian delegations this week are also expected to discuss the presence of a large number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
While Lebanese authorities say over 2 million Syrian refugees currently reside in the country – with a recent influx coming from Syria’s coastal region following the sectarian violence and armed clashes – the UN says less than a million are registered with it.
