| 2022 Ahrar al-Sham–Levant Front clashes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theinter-rebel conflict during theSyrian civil war | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Sham Legion[4] | |||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 4–5 fighters killed[1] Dozens of fighters wounded[1] 4 civilians killed[7][3] 11 civilians injured[7] Total: 8–9 killed, 11+ wounded | |||||||||
Clashes took place betweenAhrar al-Sham and theLevant Front, two factions of theTurkish-backedSyrian National Army, across theTurkish-occupied areas of theAleppo Governorate in June 2022, as part of the on-goingcivil war inSyria. Ahrar al-Sham was supported byHayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from the latter's territories in theIdlib Governorate, while theSham Legion andJaysh al-Islam backed the Levant Front.
The purportedcasus belli was the defection of the 32nd Division, part of Ahrar al-Sham's eastern branch, from the Levant Front-dominatedThird Legion of the SNA. Following this defection, the Levant Front, including reinforcements oftanks andartillery fromAzaz city,[1] attacked Ahrar al-Sham positions in theal-Bab District countryside on 18 June,[1] besieging the Ahrar al-Sham-heldKurdish-majority villages ofTall 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.[5] 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.[1]
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 betweenAfrin District and theIdlib Governorate.[9] However, HTS then captured the al-Ghazawiya crossing after the Sham Legion withdrew. The HTS and Ahrar al-Sham convoy, consisting oftechnicals withheavy machine guns, artillery, andarmoured personnel carriers, advanced north into theJindires andAfrin subdistricts, capturing Jindires and the villages of Basouta, al-Muhammadiya, al-Ghazawiya, Qarzihil, andAin Dara. Qarzihil saw the heaviest fighting.[5]
Turkey then brokered a ceasefire between the fighting factions.[3] 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, nearDarat Izza.[6] 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.[2]
