Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator
Thousands of civilians living under terrorist occupation in Idlib have taken to the streets to demand the fall of the government on Friday. No, not the Syrian government in Damascus, but the Idlib government ruled by Abu Mohamed al-Julani, and his terrorist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
On Saturday, 1,500 Uyghurs strapped on suicide vests and marched from Idlib eastwards to attack the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), the only national army in Syria under the command of the administration in Damascus. The SAA repelled the attack and 60 of these Asian terrorists were killed, while hundreds of them were injured.
Experts feel that the attack on the SAA was a strategy by Julani to deflect on the civilian uprising against him and his terrorists.
HTS set up several checkpoints in Idlib on Thursday, aimed at preventing protests against Julani and HTS, who opened fire at protestors in the Aleppo countryside.
On February 6, it was reported that tens of women went out in a protest in Al-Atareb city in western Aleppo countryside against HTS, demanding the release of detainees, fair and speedy trials for prisoners and the overthrow of Julani. A day it was reported that dozens of people went out on protests in Binsh Town in Idlib countryside against HTS.
Women in Idlib are singled out for harsh treatment by HTS. They have to conform to a strict dress code, they can’t attend training programs offered by international humanitarian groups hoping to train people with employable skills, and they can’t work in places with men. Even Saudi Arabia’s rule for females is better than Idlib.
Over the past years, HTS has prevented the entry of many foodstuffs such as vegetables, fruits, and fuels from areas controlled by the Syrian National Army, the Turkish supported terrorist group north of Aleppo.
Hundreds of civilians staged anti-HTS demonstrations in Idlib city, the towns of Ariha, Killi, Hazanu, Binnish, Al-Dana and Sarmada in Idlib countryside and Al-Atarib city in the western countryside of Aleppo, calling for the downfall of Julani, HTS, release of detainees in HTS prisons and punishing every person involved in torturing civilians in those prisons.
During the US-NATO attack on Syria for regime change, which began in 2011, Idlib became a center for armed fighters seeking to establish an Islamic State in Syria.
The US government supported the Radical Islamic terrorists based in Idlib, because it is located on the border with Turkey, which had been used by the US to train and weaponize the terrorists. In other parts of the world, you may find the US fighting terrorists, but in Idlib is was to their advantage to use the terrorists as ‘boots on the ground’.
Idlib is a small, rural province between the coastal city of Latakia, and the industrial capital of Syria, Aleppo. Idlib’s resource is olive trees and the production of olive oil. But, after the CIA set up shop in Turkey, under the CIA program named “Timber Sycamore” which President Obama directed, Idlib became vital in the US-NATO attack on Syria.
The CIA under took the training of terrorists, supplying them with paychecks financed by Qatar, supplying them with weapons shipped from Libya to Turkey and trucked across the border to Idlib. In 2017, President Trump shut the CIA program which had cost the US taxpayers billions of dollars.
Julani is commander in chief HTS. The group is the occupying force in Idlib since 2015. Julani is Syrian, but born in Saudi Arabia. He fought against the US military in Iraq, and there became associated with Abu Mustafa Baghdadi, the founder if ISIS. Julani left Iraq for Syria and established the Al Qaeda branch in Syria, called Jibhat al-Nusra.
After the UN and the US designated al-Nusra as a terrorist group, Julani changed his groups’ name to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in order to continue receiving support from the US.
Every drop of aid coming in from the UN and other charities to Idlib passes through the hands of Julani and his officers. Julani built a large, two-story shopping Mall, with escalators, in which he sells the humanitarian aid surplus. If you are on his deserving list, you will get free aid, but if you have criticized him or his group, you will receive nothing and have to buy what you want from his Al Hamra Mall.
Julani was asked to clean-up his image by the US State Department, and he dressed in a suit and tie for an interview with an American media. Even though the US has issued a $10 million reward on Julani as a terrorist, the Oval Office has continued their support for him, because this suits the US interest in keeping a tiny piece of Syrian territory out of the hands of the administration in Damascus.
Julani has said that the “Nusra Front doesn’t have any plans or directives to target the West. We received clear orders from Ayman al-Zawahiri not to use Syria as a launching pad to attack the U.S. or Europe.” This statement was to position Julani as an American-friendly terrorist. His US handlers gave him advice to focus on fighting Al Qaeda and ISIS in order to make him and HTS look like they share a common enemy with the US.
HTS has imposed check-points between Idlib and Aleppo in which they profit from goods and people moving between the two areas. They collect taxes, tariffs and duties on everything moving in or out of Idlib.
The Turkish military invaded Syria for a two-fold purpose: to support the terrorists in Idlib, and to set-up Turkish affiliated terrorists north of Aleppo, which borders Idlib.
Turkey is a NATO member, and is an American ally. America also has occupation troops in Syria, but those are supporting the SDF and YPJ, which Turkey regards as terrorists aligned with PKK, a vicious communist terrorist group which has killed over 30,000 people over decades.
In Idlib, under Julani, they refer to their government as ‘The Salvation Government’. In the area north of Aleppo, the Turkish occupiers refer to their government as the ‘Interim Government’. Both groups levy taxes and charges on the civilians living under armed occupation. Even though both armed groups are following Radical Islam, which is a political ideology, they are in competition with one another over money matters: how to bleed the civilians of every penny.
The President of Turkey, Erdogan, regards the Chinese citizens in far western China as the descendants of the ancestors of modern Turkey. These people are ethnically Uyghurs, and their political party is the Eastern Turkmenistan Islamic Party (TIP). Their pale blue and white flags can be seen in the US, as the State Department has taken them under their wing as an insult and threat to China, the US perceived enemy.
Thousands of Uyghurs were given fake passports by Erdogan, and transported to Idlib in an effort to overthrow the Damascus government, as part of the US-NATO plan. Damascus did not fall, but the Uyghurs are still there. They feel that establishing an Islamic State in China is well over their ability, but the next best plan is to establish an Islamic State in Syria, which dove-tailed nicely with the plan from Washington, DC.
The situation in Idlib is at a stand-still. The status quo has been maintained by the US, Turkey and their terrorists. Caught in the middle are 3 million civilians who earn for freedom and life. They are being used as pawns in a dirty political game which seeks to keep Syria split apart and unable to recover from over a decade of conflict.
Steven Sahiounie is a two-time award-winning journalist
