The Nordic Monitor reports today on A recent UN report on al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) shows that armed jihadists continue to operate in Syria’s Idlib region, which is under the control of the Turkish Armed Forces.

“The Idlib de-escalation zone remains important for ISIL as a strategic location providing limited safe haven; some ISIL activity is noted near the Turkish border. Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) remains the predominant terrorist group in the north-west of the Syrian Arab Republic and in control of Idlib,” the report states.

According to the report, which was submitted to the UN Security Council on February 3, 2022 by experts assigned to the UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, HTS, formerly known as the Al-Nusrah Front, has up to 15,000 fighters and generates revenue mainly through taxation in the region. Some of the humanitarian aid sent to Idlib was diverted to HTS, the report also notes.

Another group that operates in Idlib is the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), formerly known as the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which commands a force of between 1,000 and 3,000 fighters. The UN received intelligence that TIP members operate under the command of HTS and collaborate with al-Qaeda groups such as Hurras al-Din (HAD) and Katiba al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (KTJ). The group has reportedly been seeking to recruit and send fighters to Central Asian countries and China for terrorist attacks.

TIP established several training camps in Syria, recruiting and training foreign terrorist fighters. It also set up a staging area for the transit, funding and recruitment of fighters, among other logistical support.

The UN report also drew attention to the risks associated with the jihadists who try to return to their home countries through Turkey. It highlighted the case of Yassine Lachiri, a Belgian-Moroccan ISIS fighter who was detained in Bulgaria in November 2021 after arriving from Turkey. Lachiri is an associate of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the mastermind of the 2015 Paris attacks. It remains a mystery as to how Lachiri managed to enter Bulgaria despite the fact that he received a prison sentence in Turkey.