Sources in Idlib province told Asharq Al-Awsat that “things are on track to be resolved” following a security operation targeting the “Katibat al-Ghuraba” (Strangers’ Battalion), also known as the “French Battalion,” in the Harem area of northwestern Idlib near the Turkish border.
They gave no further details, as reports emerged of clashes and a state of alert among fighters stationed in the province — raising fears of a serious escalation and potential confrontations between Syrian authorities and foreign “muhajireen” (migrant) fighters.
Idlib’s Internal Security Chief, Ghassan Bakir, said Wednesday that the raid targeted a camp in the Harem area in response to complaints from residents of the nearby al-Fardan camp over “serious abuses they have suffered, the latest being the abduction of a girl from her mother by an armed outlawed group led by Omar Diaby,” known as Omar Omsen.
Bakir said security forces had sought to “negotiate with the leader to surrender himself voluntarily to the competent authorities,” but he refused, barricaded himself inside the camp, prevented civilians from leaving, and began firing on security personnel and terrorizing residents.
He said security forces had imposed a cordon around the camp, set up observation posts on its outskirts, and deployed teams to secure entrances and exits.
He accused Diaby of using civilians as human shields and held him fully “legally and morally responsible” for any threat to their safety. Bakir stressed that protecting civilians and upholding the law are the “top priorities,” adding that security forces “will firmly continue taking all necessary legal and security measures to ensure the enforcement of the law.”
Social media pages focused on Idlib reported that a group of armed men loyal to Omar Omsen had erected checkpoints on roads leading to the camp, arbitrarily searching cars. They quoted a source as saying the group had seized two armored vehicles belonging to the 64th Division of the Syrian Defense Ministry, disarmed the soldiers, and called them infidels.
Accounts close to the foreign fighters circulated a statement Tuesday, attributed to “a group of fighters and jihadist institutions in northern Syria,” rejecting “any attempt to arrest our French brothers from Katibat al-Ghuraba.”
This marks the first announced confrontation between Syria’s new authorities and foreign jihadists since the ouster of former president Bashar al-Assad and the new leadership’s efforts to project a more moderate image to the international community.
The issue of foreign fighters — who poured into Syria during years of conflict — remains a thorny one, as most of their home countries refuse to repatriate them, while President Ahmad al-Sharaa is unable to abandon those who fought for years alongside local factions against Assad’s regime.
Sources in Idlib told Asharq Al-Awsat that “the situation appears to be heading toward resolution,” though they offered no details. Meanwhile, Uzbek fighters posted a video pledging to support the French militants “with weapons and men,” as tensions rose among foreign fighters’ camps across Idlib, according to local residents.
Criminal Case, Not Political
Security and non-state conflict researcher Abbas Sharifa told Asharq Al-Awsat the operation in Harem targeted foreign fighters but was “a legal and criminal action rather than a political campaign.”
“It is not a systematic campaign against all foreign fighters,” he said. “It’s related to specific legal violations committed by some individuals.”
Sharifa said any foreign fighter residing in Syria “must respect local laws and refrain from posing any security threat to Syrian citizens or any neighboring or friendly state.”
He emphasized that violations of these laws warrant accountability, citing the recent arrest of Abu Dujana, an influential Uyghur fighter detained over media activity deemed harmful to Syrian state security.
“The same applies to Omar Omsen,” he added, describing his case as “a criminal matter related to the abduction of a girl from a camp — not a political case.”
Omar Diaby: From French Preacher to Militant Leader
According to a 2022 report by France Bleu, French-Senegalese online preacher Omar Diaby once worked at a halal restaurant in Nice before traveling to Syria in 2013, where he led a jihadist brigade made up largely of French youths from the same city.
Diaby, now 49, heads Katibat al-Ghuraba, or the Strangers’ Battalion, which he founded in 2013 in the Latakia mountains, composed mostly of French nationals. French authorities have accused him of recruiting up to 80 percent of French fighters who joined the wars in Syria and Iraq.
He previously expressed approval of the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attack. France issued an international arrest warrant against him and designated him a global terrorist in 2016.
According to earlier reports, Diaby served five years in a French prison in the early 2000s for theft before joining the Tablighi Jamaat proselytizing movement. When Syria’s uprising erupted in 2011, he began urging followers to migrate to the Levant. Facing terrorism charges in France, he fled to Syria in 2013, formed the Ghuraba group in Latakia, and joined Jabhat al-Nusra before splitting from it after the faction severed ties with al-Qaeda.
The US State Department listed him as a “Global Terrorist” in 2016. He was detained by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in 2020 after refusing to hand over French children to their parents, whom he called “infidels.” He remained imprisoned until 2022 under a deal that required him to keep away from his former camp.
In a recent voice recording shared on Telegram, Diaby denied the Syrian government’s accusation of kidnapping a girl, claiming the charges were “fabricated by French intelligence in coordination with Syrian security.”
He alleged that the issue of French fighters was raised during the Syrian president’s recent visit to France and that “commitments and promises were made” regarding their extradition.
Diaby’s son, Jibril al-Muhajir, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) via WhatsApp that clashes erupted shortly after midnight Tuesday and were still ongoing, saying the fighting was linked to “France’s demand to extradite two French nationals from the group.”
“French Battalion” Holds Out
Sources in the Syrian government told Asharq Al-Awsat that Katibat al-Ghuraba has not joined any of the armed factions aligned with the newly formed Syrian National Army. Its members and families live in a fenced, monitored camp on a hill near Harem, equipped with surveillance cameras and motion detectors.
The battalion is believed to include around 150 French-speaking fighters, including more than 70 French nationals. It has faced multiple accusations of forced detention, torture, and internal abuses, according to media reports.
