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On March 9, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Syrian Liberation Front (SLF) reached a 48 hours-long ceasefire agreement, the Syrian pro-opposition news outlet Enab Baladi reported.
The SLF confirmed the agreement in an official statement and said that the ceasefire had been a part of the ongoing efforts to reach a full solution for the crisis with HTS. The agreement was also confirmed by Abd al-Rahim Atuan, a religious scholar of HTS, according to report.
Enab Baladi also revealed that the US and Turkish-backed Faylaq al-Rahman had played a key role in the negotiations that resulted in the ceasefire agreement. If this is confirmed, it may prove that Turkey and the US have not been behind the crisis between HTS and the SLF, and that they are still not interested in eliminating the radical forces in Idlib.
The SLF is likely serious in its efforts to reach a permanent solution for the crisis with HTS, as its leader Hassan Soufan, stated this in a video message that was released on March 7. However, local observers believe that HTS agreed to the 48 hours-long ceasefire only to reorganize its forces and doubted that the group is seriously considering a peaceful solution.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), more than 200 fighters of HTS and the SLF have been killed since the beginning of the crisis on February 20.
