(formerly Jabhat al-Nusra...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ...
) by fighters of the Free Syrian Army
... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund...
-linked Harakat Noor al-Din al-Zenki group in northwest Syria, authorities from the former-mentioned faction have now called for a war of Dire Revenge.
During the late hours of Thursday night, Ha’yat Tahrir al-Sham commander Abu Ayman al-Masri (an Egyptian national) and his wife were gunned-down by Noor al-Din al-Zenki bully boyz at a checkpoint in western Aleppo province (pictures here).
Since then, leading figures within Ha’yat Tahrir al-Sham have called for vengeance against Noor al-Din al-Zenki, threatening the rival myrmidon group with all-out war.
Early reports state that Ha’yat Tahrir al-Sham has started moving convoys of troops and heavy equipment from Idlib’s countryside towards Noor al-Din al-Zenki positions and bases in west Aleppo.
Even prior to Abu Ayman al-Masri’s liquidation of Thursday night, tensions between Ha’yat Tahrir al-Sham and Noor al-Din al-Zenki had been on the rise for at least two weeks.
This latest escalation appears to almost guarantee that another inter-rebel war will erupt across northwest Syria soon ‐ the previous one taking place in mid-2017.
| An Nahar adds that Abu Ayman’s wife was only wounded, and: |
"Abu Ayman was a member of al-Qaeda international," the Observatory said, adding that he had fought with the organization in Afghanistan.
Masri was already in Syria when al-Nusra Front began establishing itself as a major force in rebel ranks in 2014.
The Nureddine al-Zinki movement is a hardline Islamist faction with a powerful presence in western parts of Aleppo province near the border with Idlib. It formed a short-lived alliance with HTS in 2017, but has broken it off and the two groups have clashed in the past.