Clashes between Syrian govt, French Islamist fighters in Idlib province after kidnapping incident

Syrian forces said they had surrounded on Wednesday a camp housing a prominent French jihadist wanted by his government, sparking clashes at the site.

The operation in northwest Syria was the Islamist-led government's first such assault on foreign fighters in Idlib since the December 2024 ouster of longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad.

Since taking power, Syria's new leaders have sought to break from their hardline Islamist past and present a moderate image more tolerable to ordinary Syrians and foreign powers.

The group of foreign jihadists targeted by government forces on Wednesday is known as Firqat al-Ghuraba in Arabic, or the Foreigners' Brigade, led by 50-year-old Oumar Diaby, a Franco-Senegalese former criminal who became a preacher and adopted the name Omar Omsen.

General Ghassan Bakir, a top security commander in the northwestern province of Idlib, said in a statement that government forces had completely surrounded the camp near the Turkish border, where Diaby is holed up.

The operation followed accusations that Omsen's group had kidnapped a girl.

Security forces "sought to negotiate with the leader to voluntarily surrender to the relevant authorities, but he refused and barricaded himself inside the camp... and began firing, provoking security personnel, and terrorising residents", Bakir said.

A security source told The New Arab's affiliate Syria TV that the operation does not target foreign fighters in general, but is aimed at recovering a child allegedly kidnapped by Omsen, with members of his group holding her inside the camp. 

The Syrian government's security forces also denied targeting French nationals in a statement, saying that around 150 French people live in Idlib province, "safely and without harassment". 

The source explained that the girl's mother—also French—appealed to the security authorities to intervene. He emphasized that the operation targets those attempting to run the “French Migrants Camp” outside the framework of state authority.

Diaby's son Jibril told AFP via WhatsApp that "the clashes began after midnight and are still ongoing", adding that "security forces shelled the camp, which houses women and children".

Jibril also said that the clashes were linked to "France's wish to secure the extradition of two French members of the group".

Before the clashes, Firqat al-Ghuraba released an official statement accusing the Syrian authorities of “collaborating with foreign entities” and threatened military escalation.

Balancing act

In September 2016, the United States designated Diaby, suspected of funnelling French-speaking fighters to Syria, as an "international terrorist".

He is also wanted on a French arrest warrant.

The issue of foreign fighters who went to Syria during the years of conflict is a thorny one, wish some countries refusing to take fighters back.

Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who previously led Al-Qaeda's Nusra Front branch in Syria, has played a delicate balancing act between presenting a moderate image to the world, and ensuring he does not antagonise the foreign fighters still in the country.

Al-Sharaa severed all links to Al-Qaeda in 2017, establishing the hardline Islamist group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) which led the rebel offensive which toppled former dictator Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

He dissolved HTS following Assad's overthrow.

French security sources have previously told AFP that "around 50" people are believed to be part of Diaby's group.

They have no known relation to the Islamic State group.

Diaby previously worked with HTS but severed links with it during the conflict, setting up Firqat al-Ghuraba. In 2020, HTS arrested and imprisoned him for 17 months after numerous legal complaints against him.

A resident of the Harem region, where the camp is located near the Turkish border, told AFP he had seen government forces bringing reinforcements to the area beginning Tuesday and had heard explosions.