2022 Ahrar al-Sham–Levant Front clashes
Conflict
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Clashes took place between Ahrar al-Sham and the Levant Front, two factions of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army, across the Turkish-occupied areas of the Aleppo Governorate in June 2022, as part of the on-going civil war in Syria. Ahrar al-Sham was supported by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from the latter's territories in the Idlib Governorate, while the Sham Legion and Jaysh al-Islam backed the Levant Front.
changes
- Levant Front captures Tall Battal and Abla from Ahrar al-Sham, then withdraws to their outskirts[3]
- Ahrar al-Sham and Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) capture Basouta, Jindires, al-Muhammadiya, al-Ghazawiya and its crossing, Qarzihil, and Ain Dara from Levant Front and Sham Legion[4]
- HTS withdraws from Ain Dara park and Qarzihil[4]
- HTS withdraws from all recently captured settlements after Turkish negotiations[5]
| 2022 Ahrar al-Sham–Levant Front clashes | |||||||||
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| Part of the inter-rebel conflict during the Syrian civil war | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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4–5 fighters killed[2] Dozens of fighters wounded[2] 4 civilians killed[7][5] 11 civilians injured[7] Total: 8–9 killed, 11+ wounded | |||||||||
Clashes
The purported casus belli was the defection of the 32nd Division, part of Ahrar al-Sham's eastern branch, from the Levant Front-dominated Third Legion of the SNA. Following this defection, the Levant Front, including reinforcements of tanks and artillery from Azaz city,[2] attacked Ahrar al-Sham positions in the al-Bab District countryside on 18 June,[2] besieging the Ahrar al-Sham-held Kurdish-majority villages of Tall Battal and Abla before proceeding to storm and capture Ahrar al-Sham's headquarters in the villages. The two fighting factions then withdrew to the outskirts of the villages.[3] At least one Ahrar al-Sham fighter was killed,[8] and four civilians, including two children, were killed, and 11 civilians wounded during the clashes in the al-Bab countryside, which had spread to the villages of Sousian, al-Hadath,[7] Alwan, and Sheikh Alwan.[2]
In response to the clashes, the Sham Legion and the Syrian National Army closed the al-Ghazawiya and Deir Ballut crossings which link the SNA and HTS areas of control between Afrin District and the Idlib Governorate.[9] However, HTS then captured the al-Ghazawiya crossing after the Sham Legion withdrew. The HTS and Ahrar al-Sham convoy, consisting of technicals with heavy machine guns, artillery, and armoured personnel carriers, advanced north into the Jindires and Afrin subdistricts, capturing Jindires and the villages of Basouta, al-Muhammadiya, al-Ghazawiya, Qarzihil, and Ain Dara. Qarzihil saw the heaviest fighting.[3]
Turkey then brokered a ceasefire between the fighting factions.[5] The agreement stipulated that the HTS convoy withdraw from the areas it captured in Afrin, and the return of Ahrar al-Sham's headquarters in al-Bab. All HTS fighters left Qarzihil village and Ain Dara park and regrouped in Basouta and Deir Ballut, near Darat Izza.[4] Despite the truce, Ahrar al-Sham attacked Levant Front bases in Tall Battal.[10] By the morning of 19 June, fighting had ceased in all of the areas with the exception of Sousian village in al-Bab.[1]