Jihadi group in Syria’s Idlib seeks control of NGOs

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), formerly known as al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra, has been seeking to fully control the humanitarian aid that is being provided to the displaced in Idlib province and parts of the countryside of Aleppo in northwest Syria.

Humanitarian organizations in these areas are facing restrictions on their work, with several nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) seeing their offices and warehouses stormed into and employees arrested, in a bid to strong-arm them to comply with the conditions of the Organizations Affairs Management Office, which HTS uses to extend its control over civil, humanitarian and relief works in its areas of control.