On February 10, security personnel of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Syrian affiliate of al-Qaeda, shot a woman in the head for attempting to smuggle a few liters of fuel from the Turkish-occupied area of Afrin to the region of Greater Idlib.

The incident took place near the HTS-run Dayr Balut checkpoint that is located on the separation line between Greater Idlib and Afrin.

The shooting left the woman, 28-year old Fatima Abdel Rahman al-Hamid, fatally wounded. In protest, the residents of a refugee camp where the woman was living with her children attacked Dayr Balut checkpoint.

The protesters, who were met with live fire from HTS security personnel, managed to burn the checkpoint’s barracks along with three motorcycles. At least one of the protesters was wounded during the confrontation.

The incident led to a backlash in Greater Idlib against HTS who just a week earlier sit and watched as US special forces landed in the town of Atimah, located right next to Dayr Balut, to attack and kill ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi.

HTS has reportedly opened an investigation in the incident. The terrorist group is already blaming the victim, a single mother who was reportedly trying to make some money just to buy bread for her four children.

Source: South Front