Tension escalates between tribes and Tahrir al-Sham

(Zaman al-Wasl)- The al-Ibrahim tribe in the Syrian Badiya accused Haya’t Tahrir al-Sham of fueling its tribal differences with the al-Boz Layt clan from the al-Hadidin tribe by accepting bribes from al-Hadadin tribe to cover up their struggle with the al-Ibrahim tribe. A commander in Haya’t Tahrir al-Sham denied these accusations. 

According to a letter of complaint which Zaman al-Wasl received from the al-Ibrahim tribe, the al-Boz Layt clan killed three members of the al-Ibrahim family, and Haya’t did not punish the “criminals from the Boz Layt clan.” The letter continued saying the Haya’t arrested the victims’ families, imprisoned them and forced them to pay a ransom fee to be released from prison.

In the letter, the al-Ibrahim clan said, “Several days ago there was a shooting between the families of the killed and the families of the murderers who are members of Haya’t Tahrir al-Sham. The latter surrounded the al-Ibrahim tribe villages and imprisoned 30 of tribal members.”

Imad al-din Mujahid, the director of media relations in the Haya’t Tahrir al-Sham, said the al-Ibrahim tribe’s story was inaccurate. According to Mujahid, two members of the tribe were killed around two months ago and the Haya’t intervened to solve the dispute.

Speaking to Zaman al-Wasl, he explained that the al-Ibrahim tribe attacked the Boz Layt strongholds, with heavy fire, on June 21. The following day, al-Ibrahim tribe set up checkpoints at the entrances to their villages, and one of the Haya’t members Abu Saddam al-Hamawi was stopped at one of these checkpoints and killed. 

According to Mujahid, the al-Ibrahim tribal elders refused to hand over al-Hamawi’s killers, so the Haya’t attacked the al-Ibrahim tribal strongholds looking for the killers. Mujahid added that the killers were smuggled out to avoid justice. However, the Haya’t Tahrir al-Sham forces, arrested several tribal members wanted for other crimes such as looting and confiscating possessions at the tribe’s checkpoints in their villages in Hama’s countryside. 

Mujahid vowed that the Haya’t would pursue al-Hamawi killers until they are brought before a Sharia court, and added that the forces would eliminate the al-Ibrahim checkpoints which the Haya’t describe as sites for looting in Hama’s countryside. 

The Badia sector of Haya’t Tahrir al-Sham witnesses, various attacks, acts of revenge and reprisals among the tribes living in this region in the southern countryside of Hama. The area has become famous following the revolution for the tribes’ smuggling oil between liberated and regime controlled areas. 

Fahad Jassim al-Fureij, the regime Minister of Defense, is from the al-Hadidin tribe whose members are distributed in the countryside of Hama, Aleppo and Idlib.

In an interview with the tribal leader Ahmed bin Fahd, he confirmed that 80% of the al-Hadadin tribal members support the Syrian revolution. He asserted that the tribal elders issued a death order for al-Fureji, al-Assad’s minister of defense.