Idlib: displaced people come back home as city liberated

Hundreds of Syrian people who fled the city of Idlib over three years ago have returned back home with joy tears few hours since Islamist groups had seized the city for the first time in Syria's civil war.

Zaman al-Wasl reporter said fighters of Fatah Army, an alliance which includes al Qaeda's Nusra Front, have secured all the entrances of the city to avoid any retaliation by Bashar al-Assad force as well have provided assistance for people who once were displaced before their own city was liberated.

During Saturday and Sunday, tens of Syrian regime's loyalists have fled the northern city without getting hurt, reporter said.

Field source told Zaman al-Wasl that rebels’ main mission is to protect people properties including Homes, cars and shops, saying we need people’s normal life to continue without any fears or concerns.

Also, the Christian minority has refused to flee the city as Fatah Army fighters provided special protection unites to secure their neighborhood, reporter said.

  ‘Army of Fatah’ is a reference to the conquests that spread Islam across the Middle East from the seventh century.

In relevant development, General Commander of Ahrar al-Sham Islamic movement called on rebels to make Islam’s interest the highest one among all they have as well to be modest, denying any intention to establish an Islamic emirate.

In a patriotic statement posted online. Hashim al-Sheikh (Abu Jaber) praised the bravery of Fatah Army's fighters who achieved a strategic victory in Idlib for the first time in Syria's civil war.

Abu Jaber asked people of the city to cooperate with rebels, assuring that there is no intention to create an Islamic emirate or a colonelcy.

The top commander, also, has warned the Syrian regime from targeting Idlib, saying the retaliation will be by attacking the neighboring Shiite villages.

By taking Idlib, capital of a northwestern province of the same name, hardline Islamist insurgents now control a second province after Raqqa, the stronghold of the Islamic State group which has been the target of U.S.-led air strikes.

Idlib, a city whose population has been swollen by hundreds of thousands of displaced people from other parts of Syria, is close to the strategic highway linking Damascus to Aleppo and to the coastal province of Latakia, a stronghold of al-Assad.

Syria's four-year-old war has killed more than 220,000 people and forced millions out of their homes.