By Samah Abdul Fattah | 2024-08-04

Syrians in Idlib and Aleppo provinces have been agitating against Tahrir al-Sham for months, with near-daily demonstrations being staged in many areas, Syrian activists said.

Protests have been ongoing since February 25 when the first spark ignited in Idlib city with a spontaneous demonstration against the dire economic conditions, activist Haisam al-Idlibi said.

From here, demonstrations spread to the province's towns, villages and displacement camps, and some areas on the outskirts of neighboring Aleppo, he told Al-Fassel.

"The demonstrations were relatively calm in the early stages, but they turned violent after Tahrir al-Sham suppressed them by force," including through the use of teargas, he said.

Members of Tahrir al-Sham's security service have also run protesters over with their vehicles on more than one occasion, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported in July.

The extremist alliance -- a coalition of armed groups led by al-Qaeda's former Syria branch -- forcibly detained dozens of activists and demonstrators, "which heightened the tension," al-Idlibi said.

Demonstrators' demands

The demonstrators' demands "quickly shifted from objecting to the economic situation to demanding the overthrow of Tahrir al-Sham leader Abu Mohammed al-Joulani," Idlib activist Musab Assaf told Al-Fassel.

They called for the dissolution of the Shura Council, the 75-member body that advises al-Joulani, and for the formation of another council through elections, with focus on the dissolution of the alliance's security apparatus.

And they demanded that prisoners of conscience be released, and that arrests on these grounds be brought to a halt, along with any attempts to normalize relations with the Syrian regime.

The protests that began spontaneously quickly turned into "an organized movement," Assaf said.

The movement put together a roadmap of action and a list of demands that call for transparency, an end to Tahrir al-Sham's control over the Idlib economy, and support for local residents and the displaced population.

Tahrir al-Sham dominates commercial and financial activity in Idlib through affiliated companies, and retains revenues generated from crossings with regime-controlled areas and petroleum products, he said.

Though it milks the province for money, it does not provide much in services to the population.

Idlib's infrastructure was severely damaged in the war, and has not been repaired or upgraded to accommodate the increase in population resulting from the displacement of thousands of people to the province, Assaf said.

Although Tahrir al-Sham has been informed of the protesters' demands, "it has not provided any response so far," he said.

Some clerics and elders asked the extremist alliance to release prisoners of conscience as a goodwill gesture in order to start negotiations to reach a truce, he noted. "However, Tahrir al-Sham has not acquiesced to this demand either."