Who targets Russian patrols in De-escalation Zone, for whom?

Early March, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that they had reached a ceasefire agreement in Idlib, starting from the 6th of the same month, after battles between government forces and the Turkish occupation army. The two sides agreed to conduct joint patrols on the M4 road, located within the areas of the mercenary groups affiliated with Turkey, south of Idlib, from the town of Saraqib in the east to the town of Ain Hor, southwest of Idlib, near the administrative borders of Latakia governorate.

Targeting the patrols and the emergence of new groups in Idlib 

With the launch of the Russian-Turkish patrols, a group of mercenaries was emerged under the name "Chechen Khattab" Brigades. The features of these mercenaries became clear after targeting a Russian-Turkish patrol on the M4 road near the village of Al-Qiyasat on July 14 with a car bomb by a suicide bomber, the group took responsibility for the attack.

At the time, this group confirmed the continuation of its approach to "carry out brutal operations against the "Crusader Turkish-Russian patrols," according to a statement published by the official mercenary channel on the "Telegram" website.

Soon, the mercenaries announced their responsibility for targeting the Russian-Turkish patrol No. 24 with an RPG missile that partially destroyed a Turkish vehicle on the 17th of August, making it the second joint patrol to be targeted after the suicide attack carried out by the mercenary Abu Ubaidah Al-Ansari against Patrol No. 21.

On August 25, this mercenary group launched a new attack on a joint patrol, targeting a Russian vehicle with an “RBG” missile in the vicinity of Urm al-Jawz, west of Idlib, which led to the injury of two Russian soldiers with a concussion in the brain, according to what the Russian Reconciliation Center announced.

Who are the mercenaries of the "Chechen Brigades"?

This unknown battalion despite its third appearance in the media, and the mercenaries published pictures of the two bombings and an unconventional statement bearing indications that they are adopting the "Salafi" combat approach, which led to the belief that it is associated with the mercenaries of the "Fa-Isbatu" operations room that includes the most fanatic "Salafi" groups that reject the ceasefire agreement there.

The accounts of the mercenaries or their leaders did not talk about targeting the joint patrols, while other accounts on social media sites of the members of these mercenaries, were satisfied with welcoming him.

Turkey revives ISIS again

In this context, Maher Farghali, a researcher in the affairs of terrorist groups, says that targeting the patrols comes within the framework of the so-called “Fourth Invasion of Drainage of ISIS” during the reign of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi. It has carried out various operations not only in Syria, but also in several Arab countries such as Egypt and Libya, and others. "

Farghali pointed out that there is a great indication of the resurgence of ISIS activity, and that the leading security apparatus of the ISIS is capable of recruiting new cells and carrying out operations, indicating that these attacks facilitate the process of ISIS's return to the fore again and again in Syria in this way. It gives a very great value to the anti-terrorist activities and the role played by the Global Coalition Forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces, stressing that "Turkey is playing again in another form with ISIS and passes the ISIS organization and then it returns to the forefront again."

"The response will be through a limited military operation."

The targeting of the patrols coincided with crowds and mutual accusations between the Syrian government forces and the Turkish occupation, which have escalated in recent periods. According to them, controlling the M4 road by force, while creating a "margin of safety" of no less than 5 to 10 kilometers to the north of the road, under the pretext of the Turkish side's failure to force its mercenaries to remove its roadblocks from the road that is supposed to open for passenger and commercial traffic, On the other hand, the Turkish occupation continues to reinforce its positions in Syria on an almost daily basis.

In this context, the Syrian writer and opposition figure Ahmed al-Druze says: “Turkey cannot accept the presence of Russia on its southern borders in areas it considers a right taken away from it after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. It is natural to expect it to make great efforts to pressure it and prevent Damascus from regaining the occupied lands together with Moscow and Tehran, which (Turkey) owns the management, leadership and support of all armed Islamic groups. It is trying to evade its actions in the face of the Russian forces by attributing it to the" Huras al-Din " organization or others, and it has the interest of not implementing the agreements concluded.

Regarding Moscow's response to the violations of Turkey's mercenary groups, the Syrian opposition said: “I do not expect Moscow to resort to agreeing to a major military operation with Damascus to restore Idlib and expel the occupying Turkish forces and their military organizations. The most it can do, is a limited military operation that Ankara is obligated to apply the recent agreement on the M4 road and keep an area of 30 km wide under Turkish control until an international agreement is reached on how to get rid of the takfiri groups, especially foreign ones, which constitute an international problem.

" Fa-Isbitu Operation Room"

The area called de-escalation is controlled, along with the Turkish occupation army, the Headquarters for the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, formerly known as the Jabhat Al-Nusra that is classified on the list of international terrorism, with the presence of other mercenary groups, but they are moving under the direction of Turkey.

Despite its opposition to the truce signed in northwestern Syria, and its categorical rejection of the Russian-Turkish patrols that pave the way for the reopening of the international roads passing through Idlib, the mercenaries affiliated with the Operation Room "Fa-Isbitu" have never attacked these patrols in their name.

However, observers believe that this room is the one who sponsors the mercenaries of the " Chechen Brigades " that target the patrols and provide them with all forms of support to launch attacks.

Through this, the mercenaries of the " Fa-Isbitu " Operation Room are trying to distance themselves from the charge of targeting the joint patrols, fearing local popular reactions.

The groups that target the patrols are affiliated with Turkey

Al-Druze, asserted that the groups targeting the patrols are administratively affiliated with Turkey, but their true subordination to the United States, which imposes protection for it until American interests are achieved, and then it takes it to new areas of international conflicts to pressure those it considers its enemies, and as an excuse to intervene in the name of combating terrorism.

Farghali said: “As I said earlier, Turkey has a key role in the issue of passing ISIS, and ISIS is a major player. Coordination between them is not direct, it can be passed or surrounded, and it plays with it like a chess stone. In another meaning, it is surrounds it in an area, it flies away to another in the face of enemies or allies. This is Turkey that is playing a very smart way with the organization. "

Farghali noted that Turkey has many plans in the region, and makes political Islam at the heart of its plan, and one of the determinants of Turkish foreign policy, which is the use of political Islam currents in parentheses from the Brotherhood to ISIS.

Farghali concluded, saying: "These organizations exist in the environment in which there are tensions, and the environment in which there are tensions is chaotic, which means: Turkey supports chaos all the time."

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ANHA