Instead of retreating, however, HTS grew bolder, and on 10 January declared it had forced other armed groups in the area into a surrender deal, effectively cementing its control of the entire province.
And since HTS is considered a terrorist organisation by most of the international community, concerns over aid funding being diverted by the group has led several major donors to cut desperately needed funding to the area.
Idlib and rural Aleppo are served by about 50 medical facilities, where salaries, medicine and equipment worth hundreds of thousands of dollars have been financed by non-governmental organisations and western governments.
Now, however, medical staff in several places are working for free, as are teachers.
“It is an unsustainable situation,” said a Kafranbel resident, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation. “All the private universities have been closed because they refused to be attached to the HTS-controlled higher education council. Courses in religion, tailored by them, are now compulsory. If any student or professor speaks out, they are dismissed or taken to prison.”
Checkpoint fees for vehicles carrying food and goods from regime areas or Turkey have soared, with the costs passed on to consumers, several people said – and residents fear that dissenters will be arbitrarily arrested and tortured.
Several people across Idlib expressed fears that an emboldened HTS could trigger the regime offensive that was staved off by last September’s ceasefire deal. Last year, aid agencies warned that a large-scale assault on Idlib could cause one of the worst humanitarian crises in Syria’s now eight-year-old war.
Article:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/12/aid-agencies-pull-out-of-idlib-in-face-of-new-terror-threat-syria
