The radical Hurras al Din group is responsible for kidnapping and forcibly disappearing six activists working for relief organisations in northern Idlib province, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said Thursday.
Since the beginning of 2020, SNHR has documented at least eight kidnappings targeting local activists working mainly in humanitarian organizations and charities in Idlib governorate; six of these individuals were detained by Hurras al Din group, as part of its policy of repression, restriction, and terrorizing of civil society organizations operating in Idlib governorate, and to take advantage of the current chaotic conditions in the northwest areas of Syria to carry out security operations.
The Syrian Network in its new report has accused the Hurras al Din group of committing widespread violations of international human rights law against the people in the areas under its control through kidnappings, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and unfair rulings issued by courts that in no way comply with the basic rules of fair trials.
The Hurras al Din group considers itself to be one of the branches of al Qaeda and gives its allegiance to the terror group’s leader Ayman al Zawahiri.
The group, which is controlled by jihadists from various nations around the world, primarily Jordan and Tunisia, is not considered to possess any independent military capacity and strength; therefore, it often resorts to alliances with other extremist groups, including Jamaat Ansar al Tawhid, Jabhat Ansar al Din and others, when carrying out military attacks on areas outside its control. The report also notes that the Hurras al Din group lacks any real central leadership, with each of its subordinate groups managing its own affairs and planning and carrying out kidnappings or killings, according to whatever each group perceives as useful at a given moment in achieving its objectives.
(Zaman Al Wasl, SNHR)
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