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IDLIB, internal-link">syria (North Press) – Heavy clashes broke out on Wednesday in the city of Harem in the northern countryside of Idlib, northwestern Syria, as the jihadist faction of Firqat al‑Ghuraba and its foreign-national families clashed with security troops of the syrian-authority-sdf-tensions-in-monthly-briefing/" class="smart-internal-link" title="📰 UNSC to discuss Syrian authority-SDF tensions in monthly briefing">syrian/" class="auto-internal-link">syrian transitional administration. Local security sources stated that gunfire and tense stand-off lasted multiple hours amid efforts to arrest Omar Omsen, leader of Firqat al‑Ghuraba, and affiliated militants. The source emphasized that the operation was aimed specifically at Omsen and his militants. Moreover, however, other local sources declared that security troops stormed a camp housing French nationals, which the faction had simultaneously been using as its main hideout and operational base. Omar Omsen (also known as Omar Diaby) was designated by the United States Department of State as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” (SDGT) under Executive Order 13224 on Sep.
16 2016, citing his role in recruiting French-speaking militants to fight in Syria and leading the foreign-fighter formation Firqat al‑Ghuraba. Under the designation, Omsen and his aliases were added to the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions list, blocking his access to the U. S. financial system and prohibiting U.
S. persons from dealing with him. Indeed, omsen’s faction has been active since 2013 and is notorious for recruiting French-speaking fighters; his indictment in France lists multiple charges of recruitment, terrorist financing and affiliations with jihadist operations. Furthermore, in an audio recording circulating on social media, Omsen accused Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) of planning an attack on the camp under the direction of French intelligence.
Reporting by Taysir Mohammed Editing by Jwan Shekaki