Targeted killings and kidnappings for ransom have for months rattled Syria’s Idlib Province, with angry residents blaming dominant rebel and militant forces for the chaos.
Even as the regime says it aims to retake the northwestern province on Turkey’s border, its inhabitants are falling victim to infighting between the rival groups controlling most of it.
Car bombings, roadside explosives and gunfire have targeted and killed more than 200 fighters, but have also cost the lives of dozens of civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
These mostly unclaimed killings, as well as increasingly frequent abductions, have left inhabitants in constant fear of being caught up in the violence.
“Every time I want to take my car somewhere, I inspect it thoroughly ... to make sure there’s no explosive device planted in it,” a media activist in the south of the province said.
“Whenever I drive by a dustbin, I accelerate, afraid it’s going to blow up,” he said, asking to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.
Since April, 270 people — including 55 civilians — have been killed in assassinations of rebels and commanders from all sides in Idlib, and adjacent parts of Hama and Aleppo provinces, the Britain-based Observatory says.
Activists and analysts blame most of the violence on two rival umbrella groups, also attributing some to the Islamic State (IS) group and alleged regime collaborators.
The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) alliance, which is led by militants from al-Qaeda’s former Syrian affiliate, controls more than 60 percent of Idlib. Part of the rest is held by the National Liberation Front, a rival group backed by Turkey, while IS also has sleeper cells.
The regime holds the southeastern tip of the province that is home to about 2.5 million people.
As the rampant insecurity in opposition areas reaches all walks of life, residents have grown increasingly angry.
The media activist from southern Idlib said he mostly blamed the HTS for the chaos.
Medical staff in the HTS-held provincial capital, Idlib city, have also had enough.
In June, doctors and pharmacists announced a three-day strike to protest against “chaos and a lack of security,” including the kidnapping of doctors for ransom.
HTS ands other rebels have also been arresting not only alleged IS members, but also people accused of collusion with the government.
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