On October 15, 2018, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham/HTS and other Islamic brigades conducted a massive raid and arrest operation in the village of Ein Laruz, Idlib, which ended with the death of an elderly man and the arrest of 13 other persons, who have been accused of being involved and responsible for kidnappings, thefts and detonation of improvised explosive devices, according to testimonies obtained by Syrians for Truth and Justice/STJ.
On October 15, 2018, a resident from the village of Ein Laruz, on the condition of anonymity, informed STJ of the following:
“HTS stormed the village at dawn, bringing 300 of its elements, as to capture a kidnapping, money plundering and theft ring. One of the elements stormed the house of Mustafa Fares Qentar, famous for improvising explosive devices, whose three sons got killed while fighting for Daesh.[1] Mustafa threw a bomb at the elements who attempted to arrest him, starting skirmishes and exchanged shooting in which Mustafa died. The arrest campaign ended with the arrest of 13 persons, on charges of kidnapping and thefts. Two of the kidnapping ring’s heads managed to escape to the al-Zawia Mountain, called M.H and A.K.”
The captures are Mohammad Sultan Qentar, Najib Jameel Qentar, a school teacher and a university student, Fares Mustafa Qentar, Mustafa al-Houd Qentar, Mustafa al-Hani Qentar, Ahmad Abdulrahman Qentar, Kanaan al-Saloum, Saher al-Kheder, Ali al-Kheder, Mohammad Khair Qentar, Ibrahim al-Ali and Mohammad Taha Qentar.
Mustafa Fares Qentar, the man killed in HTS raid of the village of Ein Laruz, Idlib. Posted on: October 15, 2018. Photo credit: Ein Laruz Media Center.
Reporting the incident, Ein Laruz Media Center posted a video showing Mustafa Qentar’s family after his death, accusing HTS of killing him.
In this respect, another source, who refused to reveal his name for security considerations, told STJ that the persons arrested by HTS had conducted several kidnappings in the town of Kafr Oweid. Back then, the abductee died under torture. They also kidnapped another person from the village of Maarat Missrin for a ransom of $100,000. However, the capture managed to flee. In addition to this, they kidnapped persons from the town of al-Rami and released them after the town’s people identified them and threatened them with death.
The man killed, Mustafa Fares Qentar, was responsible for the manufacture and planting of several explosive devices in the area, most of which caused casualties, the source added.
A third source, from the village of Ein Laruz, said that the Hurass ad-Din/Guardians of Religion and the Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria and Free Idlib Army participated alongside HTS in its raid of the village, where Abu Malik al-Tali, Abu Rabie al-Barah and Saleh al-Dani, commanders of HTS, were identified.
On October 15, 2018, Ebaa Agency, affiliated with HTS, published a statement, saying that HTS elements conducted a raid at the village of Ein Laruz and arrested 12 persons, involved in robbery and kidnappings and reported the death of Mustafa Qentar during the operation.
An image of the Ebaa Agency’s statement about HTS raid of the village of Ein Laruz in Idlib, published on October 15, 2018. Photo credit: Ebaa Agency.