The Al-Hamran border point is controlled by Turkish-backed armed groups, reportedly under directives from Ankara’s intelligence service
Militias loyal to the extremist armed group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) captured two areas in Aleppo on 26 September following clashes with groups affiliated with the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA).
According to a correspondent for opposition media outlet Baladi, HTS-affiliated groups took full control of the city of Souran and the village of Ishtamalat in the countryside of Aleppo, northwestern Syria.
The outlet claims that HTS and its affiliates are looking to expand even further.
Roads, schools, businesses, and public institutions have been locked down as a result of the violence.
On 24 September, a ceasefire agreement was implemented between HTS and Turkish-backed armed groups, aimed at stopping ongoing skirmishes. That night, fighting resumed between HTS and the Sultan Murad Division and Ahrar Olan groups from the SNA. Several deaths and injuries were reported.
A military police source in the northwestern city of Al-Bab told Syria TV that HTS continued to bring reinforcements into the region despite the agreement, with the aim of advancing towards and controlling the Al-Hamran border crossing, which links areas held by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to areas controlled by the SNA.
The Al-Hamran crossing is considered an economic lifeline for opposition-held territory in northern Syria. Economic experts cited by Syrian news outlet North Press Agency (NPA) estimate that the crossing brings approximately $2 million worth of income into the opposition-controlled north.
According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), Al-Hamran crossing is controlled by the SNA’s Sultan Murad Division under direct orders from Turkish intelligence.
The new fighting erupted as tensions between HTS and the SNA remain high, with several clashes having broken out between the two groups the past year, particularly in the town of Azaz in Aleppo countryside, control over which is divided between the two groups.
HTS, formerly Al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front, is reportedly attempting to expand its influence across the north as much as possible with the aim of controlling the most strategic and profitable border crossings.
HTS currently controls the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the Turkish border. It also controls the Hammam crossing, which links HTS territory to SNA territory, as well as the Saraqib crossing, which links its territory to areas controlled by Damascus.
Similar violence has been ongoing in US-controlled northeast Syria as part of an Arab tribal rebellion against Washington’s Kurdish proxy, the SDF.
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