Baladi News, Idlib
The clashes continue between the factions of " Harakat Ahrar al-Sham" and "Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham" in the governorate of Idlib resulting in martyrs and casualties in both sides along with civilians, so what are the reasons behind these clashes as they weaken the opposition in such a critical time when they have already lost vast areas in favor of the regime.
One of the indirect but declared reasons was the issue of the flag of the revolution as Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham refused to adopt the flag or raise it over the liberated regions, on the other hand, they attacked on Sunday the regions of Maarat Nasreen north of Idlib after the largest flag of the revolution was drawn on the walls of the city.
The war of flags as some called aims only at gaining support of the popular incubator of both sides as some are with the concept of raising the flag of the revolution as it was the one that the Syrian people raised during their demonstrations, while others refuse this saying that the real flag of Muslims is the one with "la 'iilih 'iilaa allah" on it.
Analysts believe that this war of flags is not but a provocative action by both factions as each of them looks for a pretext to eliminate the other in order to dominate the regions that was liberated with the efforts of everyone.
This denotes that the flag is not the problem and that the actual reason is the conflict of projects and the political repercussions of the region and the international agreements that reflected on the scene of the factions whose decision is already linked to the international forces as each faction tries to be the most dominant in the region and the negotiating party with the regional power. Generally speaking the factions have to find a formula to unify their decision or to establish a unified entity that represents everybody which is the thing that they couldn’t achieve yet, otherwise they will have to choose the method of the "strongest wins".
Observers believe that the outcomes of the infighting are dire in light of the latest military retreat on the fronts with the regime and that who die from both sides are Syrian militants in the end who joined the factions to fight the tyranny of Assad's regime which in turns benefit from such conflicts especially in the light of the disappointing political outcomes of Geneva and Astana.