Tahrir al-sham tightening noose around foreign fighters in Idlib

Tahrir al-Sham has sent messages to non-Syrian fighters in the northeastern Syrian city of Idlib, asking them to evacuate their homes.

The organization also asked the same fighters to leave for either the countryside of Idlib or the countryside of Latakia.

This, the organization said in its messages, would not give the international coalition against ISIS an excuse to bomb Idlib.

The messages sent by Tahrir al-Sham to foreign fighters come hard on the heels of the killing of ISIS caliph, Abdullah al-Qurieshi, in the northeastern Syrian town of Atma, which is located in the northern part of Idlib.

Tahrir al-Sham succeeded in eliminating all rival factions in the past period and kicking them out of its spheres of influence.

The organization did this in its bid to convince the international coalition that it controls the situation on the ground in Idlib and that there is no presence of other factions in the city.

Tahrir al-Sham also arrested people whom it described as 'extremists' in its bid to show that it has no tolerance to extremism and that it has already moved away from the extremist ideology.

The organization does this as it strives to gain international legitimacy and recognition, in hopes that it can be moved out of international terror lists.

Tahrir al-Sham was classified as a 'terrorist group' for many years due to its relations with al-Qaeda and its late leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

These relations seem to have negatively affected the organization and significantly reduced its influence.

Now, Tahrir al-Sham seems to have decided to break away with al-Qaeda and establish an independent organization.

This is why some observers believe Tahrir al-Sham will do its best in the coming period to distance itself away from foreign fighters, especially those known to harbor extremist ideologies.