Now foreign jihadists face a fight to the last to hold onto Idlib, their final bastion. Since 2015, Idlib has been home to a complex array of anti-regime forces: secular rebels, Islamists, Syrian jihadists with ties to Al-Qaeda -- and their foreign counterparts. In a bid to avert an assault, the top three powerbrokers in Syria's war -- Russia, Iran, and Turkey -- agreed on Friday to work together on "stabilising" Idlib. - Uzbeks, Chechens -The TIP aren't the only battle-hardened Asians in Idlib -- Uzbek fighters have joined a smattering of groups close to HTS. "Everyone is holding their breath to see what happens," says Joanna Paraszczuk, who tracks foreign jihadists for the intelligence review IHS Jane's.

Source: Bangkok Post September 10, 2018 02:26 UTC