Fatal attack recorded in Idlib as Syria begins crackdown on ‘French jihadists’

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Two civilians were killed and five others injured in an attack carried out by unknown assailants in northwestern Syria’s Idlib province on Wednesday, according to Damascus state media. The incident coincides with an ongoing crackdown by the Syrian interim government targeting foreign jihadists, particularly French nationals, in Idlib as well.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that “unknown individuals riding a motorcycle targeted a civilian car in the Kafr Mars area of Jabal al-Sumaq in Idlib countryside,” resulting in two fatalities and multiple injuries.

A local internal security official told SANA that investigations are ongoing, emphasizing that “security apparatuses are exerting intensive efforts to identify the perpetrators, pursue them, and bring them to justice.”

In a parallel development, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported Wednesday that clashes erupted in Idlib between “government forces and jihadists,” amid a push by Damascus "to capture French fighters wanted by Paris.” The son of a prominent French jihadist, known as Jibril al-Mouhajir, told AFP that "clashes erupted after midnight and are ongoing."

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) relayed that security forces affiliated with the interim government’s interior ministry had “launched a major security campaign targeting the ‘French Camp’ in the town of Harem in western Idlib.”

The camp is reportedly a stronghold of the Firqat al-Ghuraba - Strangers Brigade in Arabic - led by Omar Omsen, a French jihadist of Senegalese origin. According to SOHR, the operation aims to extradite Omsen along with other “individuals wanted by France.”

SOHR, which relies on a network of local sources, said clashes broke out during the operation, resulting in “several casualties and injuries among both the French foreign fighters and security personnel.” Several “French jihadists” were reportedly arrested as well.

The operation, SOHR added, was “prompted by security threats emanating from inside the camp,” and authorities are attempting to carry out the arrests “while ensuring the safety of women and children and preventing the confrontations from spreading to northern Idlib.”

The Harem raid is part of a broader campaign across Idlib province targeting all known residences of foreign militants in a sweeping search-and-extradition effort, the war monitor explained.

A widely circulated statement on X, attributed to Firqat al-Ghuraba, accused the Syrian interim government of “executing a plan to eliminate foreign fighters in cooperation with the United States and the International Coalition - including France.” The group reportedly alleged that “French nationals are the first targets of this plan.”

Rudaw English was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the statement.

In early December, a coalition of opposition forces - led by the now-dissolved Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa - toppled the regime of longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad. Sharaa was appointed interim President in late January.

Since assuming power, Sharaa has made diplomatic overtures to remove international sanctions on Syria. A key step in that effort has been the repatriation of foreign fighters to their countries of origin.

According to SOHR, Sharaa recently assured France that he would “end the presence of French jihadists in Syria and hand them over to Paris.” He also reportedly pledged to Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Moscow last week that his government would begin “extraditing Russian and Chechen foreign fighters to Russia” in “spaced-out phases to prevent an uprising against Sharaa's government by the foreign fighters.

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