Syria reaches truce with French-led militant group in Idlib

Syrian security forces have reached an agreement to end deadly clashes with a French-led militant faction in the northern province of Idlib, following days of tension around a camp housing foreign fighters.

The Internal Security Forces of Syria’s Ministry of Interior announced on Thursday that they had concluded a truce with the Ghuraba Battalion ("Battalion of Strangers"), a group of French jihadists led by Omar Omsen - also known as Omar Diaby - in the Al-Firdan camp near Harem, northern Idlib.

"The two sides reached an agreement providing for a ceasefire, an end to the state of alert, the withdrawal of heavy weapons to military barracks, and the cessation of inflammatory media campaigns," a local source told The New Arab's Arabic edition Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

The deal, the source said, also included "restraint in public discourse and the transfer of the dispute to the Sharia court of the Ministry of Justice for adjudication".

The agreement allows Interior Ministry forces to enter the French migrants’ camp to regulate its security presence and mandates the appointment of mediators to follow up on Omsen's case.

Security forces had surrounded the camp on Wednesday to arrest a wanted man, sparking clashes when the Internal Security Forces attempted to detain Omsen, a French national of Senegalese origin, accused of kidnapping a young girl and establishing an unauthorised court.

In a statement, the Ghuraba Battalion accused the Syrian government of coordinating with French intelligence, calling the raid "a great betrayal" and declaring its readiness to "fight to the end".

Ahmad Muwaffaq Zaidan, the Syrian president’s media adviser, said in a post on X that the clashes "occurred because these individuals refused to submit to the authority of the law," stressing that "the issue has nothing to do with their being foreign fighters".

"A Syrian who acted the same way would be treated the same," Zaidan added. "Syria today is a state of law, and everyone must adhere to the laws and regulations in force".

Sources told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the Turkistan Islamic Party played a key mediating role in calming the situation after hours of escalating tension.

The group intervened to stabilise the ceasefire and persuade both sides to return to negotiations - paving the way for the final agreement that ended what officials described as one of the most sensitive security crises in northern Idlib.

Omar Omsen was a fast-food worker in Nice, France, before moving to Syria in late 2012, where he formed a battalion in Latakia’s countryside composed mainly of French fighters of African descent.

He later joined and then left Hayat Tahrir al-Sham - the group formerly led by current Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa - to found the Ghuraba Battalion. 

The group operated mainly in Latakia’s rural areas, particularly the Kabani hills, with about 100 fighters. The US State Department has designated Omsen a global terrorist, while French authorities have accused him of recruiting fighters to operate in Syria and Iraq.

Thousands of foreign fighters are known to have travelled to Syria to fight Assad, with the Syrian government incorporating around 3500 into a new Syrian army unit. 

Commenting on the recent events, political researcher Mohammed al-Mustafa told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that "the Syrian government is working to prevent its territory from being used as a haven for organisations that might carry out cross-border operations or attacks inside Syria".

He added that the government’s actions "appear aimed at containment and building trust through coordination with international partners, including previous joint operations with the international coalition in Aleppo, Idlib, and rural Damascus".

Al-Mustafa said that the government’s success depends on “the extent to which these groups’ leaders submit to the Defence Ministry and maintain discipline within the army," warning that "some foreign factions may find it difficult to adapt to the current reality in Syria".

He called on the government to "take concrete steps to dismantle and reintegrate these groups swiftly".

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