Small Wars Journal

Terror Group Puts Plan for Syrian Demilitarized Zone at Risk

Fri, 09/21/2018 - 12:20am

Terror Group Puts Plan for Syrian Demilitarized Zone at Risk by Raja Abdulrahim – Wall Street Journal

A deal to create a demilitarized zone in Syria’s last opposition stronghold and forestall a regime offensive faces an immediate challenge from terrorist groups there who have signaled their reluctance to abide by the agreement.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, one of the most powerful armed groups in Syria’s Idlib Province, criticized the accord made this week between Russia and Turkey to avert a government offensive. The deal for a demilitarized zone would remove heavy weapons and expel officially designated terrorist groups from a 10-to-12 mile corridor along the front lines by mid-October.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which evolved from the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, sees the plan as a plot to weaken opposition to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. It also suggested that abandoning its weapons would be un-Islamic…

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